Familiars Never Cry
by zaberfang
Summary: Another Familiar of Zero Crossover, wherein Louise wishes to summon the most awesome familiar yet. Would you believe? Her wish gets granted, in the form of Dante, the Son of Sparda. This Party's Getting Crazy! Let's Rock! There's a reason why this turned to rated M. Consider yourselves warned...season one ends, plus extra chapter...XD
1. Mission 1 : An Elaborate Invitation

Familiars Never Cry

Disclaimer: Neither the Familiar of Zero nor Devil May Cry belong to me.

Mission 1: An Elaborate Invitation

In the world of his where part of his heritage came from, a man in red sits lazily atop his motorcycle. Staying in this place where probably no living human will ever be able to withstand just by existing, the man in red scans the vast expanse looking for any signs of life, especially for one particular half-devil.

It has been a long time since he was trapped in this place, where his father, the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda was sort-of born, lived and even thrived before later siding with the human race. It was a really hard fight just to stay alive when he first got here. But after an indeterminable time, things got a lot easier as Dante's powers grew in leaps and bounds as he faced stronger and even stronger foes in this dimension man called Hell. It was this until this particular moment.

"Hmm, it's been a long while since I last saw and destroyed a devil, let alone a lesser demon." Dante spoke to no one in particular, with his red cloak softly flowing with the hellish wind.

'Did I just clean out Hell? Is it over?' He thought, as he looked around one more time, after which he revved the motorcycle to life, and begins driving off look somewhere else. He had to admit to himself, he was getting bored with this.

His recent efforts in searching for any signs of demonic activity came up empty.

Yup it's going to be really boring from now on for the usually silent devil hunter. It was a fruitless search, though he can't say whether if it's a good news or bad news.

Stopping at the edge of a high rise cliff, Dante looks up towards the Hells version, or rather a mockery of the sky, and lets himself loose with some memories he had left of the world where he once lived before ending up here. He remembered some good times he had with friends when he was still a mercenary, teasing him of always treating himself to strawberry sundaes instead of getting drunk on booze, getting it on with the chicks. Then the fun of hunting devils with Lady, Trish, even that Nero brat. Those memories, allowed him to smile a little though to be honest he knows that he would not be seeing them even if he ever manages to go back to the human world. But at least there would still be the pizza waiting for him. Ah, what he would sacrifice for a slice of it at the moment.

That was when he suddenly felt a surge of unknown power slowly coming into existence right in front of him. It felt unlike he ever experienced, it was neither Infernal nor Holy magic, it was just pure magic. As he looked on, the energy began as a tiny pinpoint of light to a rectangular film of blue light. It seems to be a portal, but to where?

A long time ago, he would have just up and jumped into it and go guns blazing all the way through, facing down whatever the fate throws at him. Not like he's got a choice at the matter then.

Now he has a choice, to leave this now empty hell, and go to wherever the fuck this portal goes, or stay here in hopes of finding if there are any more devils hiding in holes. Taking from his pocket an antique coin, the Medaglia coin, he flips it into the air and caught it on one hand, leaving the choosing to fate… yet again.

Dante may be a lot subdued now, but that devil may care attitude still remains.

'Heads I go, tails I stay.' The silver-haired half-devil thought, betting his fate to chance, and upon opening his hand, and shows the ornate coin in its "head" side. "Time to go then." He said, straddling his beloved motorcycle, started, and revved it to its limit before he let go of the brakes causing the bike to instantly charge forward.

Meanwhile, Somewhere in another world...

"My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. Pentagon of the five elemental powers, Heed my Command..."

Louise was desperate. Several times had she tried to summon a familiar, each resulting in nothing but explosions.

"And bring forth..." Louise putting forth all her efforts and magic for one last try.

It has to work this time…..it HAS TO!

Louise's hand holding the wand is shaking with the sheer strain and exhaustion from earlier efforts as she cast the spell forth, in a desperate bid to succeed in summoning a strong and powerful familiar, but at this moment, anything will do, 'even in just summoning a familiar, please Founder, at least let me summon something, just to prove I'm not a failure. Please.'

The pinkette scrunched her eyes shut as she ended the summoning spell, which sounded more like a plea than a command.

"My familiar!"

The chant ended, and an explosion, greater than all the others before it, heralded the ritual's coming completion. A wind swept through the crowd, chilling and bringing with it a wave of indescribable terror that petrified the students and even their new familiars. Though before the smoke did dissipate, a strange sound assaulted their ears. Thick smoke covered the area bringing visibility to near none.

It sounded like a growling of a wild beast,

Though what kind they are unable to determine. Is it a dragon? No, it couldn't be. It sounded way too unnatural. But there is no denying it, all the students felt it, the crushing power of the creature wrought by the person they never expected to accomplish anything other than explosions.

This is what the people present collectively thought.

Just what did the Zero summon?

The smoke clears, and only then will they behold what Louise's spell had wrought.

A man is on the summoning circle, straddling on what appears to be a two wheeled contraption. He appeared taller than any present. White hair, so bright it seemed to glow in the sunlight, hung around his head, hiding his eyes from sight. Clad in strange, tight-fitting clothes, consisting of an extremely eye-catching crimson long coat of strange design flapped gently in the breeze caused by the explosion. Under that he wore a strange black vest with small straps with silver buckles over his torso, and black pants, both woven from unknown yet obviously sturdy material. The sleeves of his coat rolled up, exposing his muscular forearms. He wore black leather gloves with the index fingers exposed, and black leather riding boots on his feet.

What attracted the attention of the students is what could only be described as a gigantic zweihander on his back, an enormous sword with a ribcage and skull that looked like it was screaming forming part of the hilt on one side and a gentle, angelic face on the other and with two bones as the guard. It somehow seemed securely stuck on his back with no visible scabbard or even straps to hold it in place.

It seems that the growling comes from the metal contraption that the man is sitting on. Then the sound cuts off as the man in red dismounts from it and stood tall and proud, almost looking cocky but with an air that seems to evoke royalty.

The crowd stood awed by the stranger, staring for several long seconds, before he moved. Slowly, almost as though not to startle them, the man lifted his right hand to his head, fingers running into his hair, he parted his forelocks aside, revealing an pale, albeit an impossibly handsome face that could have been carved from purest white marble, and deep-blue eyes that smouldered like glowing hot steel.

"Well ...this is new…" Dante drily commented, his burning gaze sweeping the crowd.

Ah, and how they flinched as he did.

Author's Note:

I've been trying to put his story up for a while. The idea of getting Dante summoned as a familiar for Louise began when I saw the main heroine from the anime Hidan no Aria, Aria herself. Especially when you realize that both Louse and Aria obviously share some characteristics, mainly being loli-tsunderes. Heck they even share the same seiyuu, Rei Kugimiya, bless her cutesy voice. It was mainly due to the weapons Aria uses, the pair of .45 cal Colt Government, colored black and white and the way she shoots it is pretty reminiscent of my all time favourite video game badass Dante. Then putting two and two together, I thought, "What if Aria's distant ancestor was Louise, and the guns she was using were heirlooms passed by Dante himself."

Will be posting the Hidan no Aria / Devil May Cry fic later, if this post goes well. Please comment.

Been reading too many fanfics so it sorry if there are similarities here and there. Hope you guys won't mind.


	2. Mission 2 : Beggars Can't be Choosy

Author's notes:

Hello again, This is my first time trying to write a fanfic, so I apologize if the work could be rather poorly done. But still, I hope I would be able to meet your expectations.

You guys might have guessed I already, the Dante I'll be using would be the post-DMC 2 Dante. Don't worry though; he may be quiet at first, but… There are a lot of things in his mind. Like a witty British guy? : )

Besides this, I'll try to experiment on stuff so don't be surprised at some things… : ) please tell me if I'm starting to go overboard. I'm open for suggestion on how to steer this tale as I'm just a beginner, so please be gentle.

Been reading too many fanfics as usual , if there are similarities here and there I apologise. Hope you guys won't mind.

This chapter will focus on establishing the characters and their relationship to each other sorry for the lack of action scenes as of yet. On with this chapter.

Let me tell you this at the Beginning: Neither the Familiar of Zero nor Devil May Cry belong to me.

Mission 2 : Beggars Can't Be Choosy

／人◕ .◕人＼

Facing large hordes of devils and other monstrosities that are stuff of nightmares are the usual things that Dante finds after entering portals. This is the first time he ends up having a bunch of kids as a welcoming committee. Though Dante doesn't come across being bookish, he has read some stuff and watched movies and this particular scene seemed familiar to the devil-hunter. Besides the pizza and strawberry sundaes, he missed just lazing around his office and watch movies from the sweet home theatre system he got from one of his jobs. 'Is my plasma TV still alright back home?' he thought randomly.

"Looks like I ended up in some Harry Potter-esque place."

He sighs, as he scanned the place.

"Well, at least this isn't the Twilight-like dimension. If it were, I'll shoot the first sparkling vampire I see until its Swiss cheese. " He cracked to no one in particular, looking up to the two moons hanging in the blue sky.

Finding himself ending up in other dimensions doesn't come up as a surprise since it is curtailed with the job description in general, so he shrugs to himself and begins to plan what to do next.

At that moment, as our handsome devil hunter tries to make out of the situation…

Louise was currently in shock. That goes double with the rest of the people present, since this is the infamous Zero involved in the event.

The being, which appeared before them as they now could see, is generally described henceforth as an exquisite example of a white-haired man in his twenties, well-dressed in a rather blindingly crimson long coat. His presence to them seemed to be a perfect mix of raw sex appeal, finesse of an experienced noble gentleman, a little dash of rebellious youth, topping it off with a mysterious stoicism, and finally a slight touch of dangerous vibe which he exuded naturally.

It was safe to say that many young noble males lost their beaus that day in less than three seconds as the young ladies beheld such a delectable piece of catch that Louise had apparently summoned. Then again, some of the male nobles seem to end up having identity issues right at the bat. Louise could hear sighs from the females who fainted which sounded way too erotic for her ears to believe that it was due to fear that they lost consciousness. In addition, and she could hear a sort of cat-like purring coming from the general direction of von Zerbst. That in itself is a reward of some sort, to be recognized by the rival with one's accomplishment.

"Umm, Mademoiselle Valliere." A voice called out to her.

Louise gets pulled out from further inward gloating, by Professor Colbert, a bespectacled, middle-aged professor. If it wasn't for the receding hairline, he would make a rather good-looking fellow himself. Thus, it might be and/or for some other reason yet to be revealed, remained single.

"Madamoiselle Valliere, please finish the ceremony." He reminded the pinkette, though feeling unsure of this unforeseen development.

The statement finally broke the wall of silence, and of shock amongst the crowd of students. Then the comments began flowing in.

"Did the Zero summon… a human? "

"She did…"

"And she summoned a commoner?"

"No commoner would be able to afford those clothes."

"And that big sword he carries, No mere commoner could lift that!"

Louise cared not of her current surroundings. She had actually succeeded at something, and now she's about to seal the deal as she strode towards the man that she has called upon to be her… familiar. As she moved closer, his eyes turned to regard her approach, with intensity so focused that the pinkette felt like she was stabbed by his sword many times over. It caused her to hesitate, and the thought of just running away from him surfaced, clouding her resolve.

"Um,P- pardon me, but may I ask of who thou art?" She stuttered, making the awkward meeting a bit more so.

The man, instead of answering, remained where he stood, with his arms crossed and looking at the now terrified girl, with an even more piercing gaze.

"D-Do you understand what I am trying to say?" she timidly asked again.

Unfortunately, the rest of the students present weren't even aware of the fear that Louise felt and began jeering.

"Hey, Louise summoned an idiot!"

"Ha! You never fail to meet our expectations, Louise the Zero!"

Louise called for her Professor M'seiu Colbert.

"What is it that you want from me, M'selle Vallière?"

"Please! Let me try the summoning one more time!"

Mr. Colbert, the man wearing the black robe, shook his head. "I cannot allow that, M'selle Vallière."

"Why not?"

"It is strictly forbidden. When you get promoted to a second year student, you must summon a familiar, which is what you just did."

"Your elemental specialty is decided by the familiar that you summon. It enables you to advance to the appropriate courses for that element. You cannot change the familiar once you have summoned it, because the Springtime Familiar Summoning is a sacred rite. Whether you like it or not, you have no choice but to take him."

"But... I've never heard of having a human as a familiar!"

Everyone around laughed. Louise scowled at them, but the laughter didn't stop.

"Now, complete the contract."

At that moment, Dante hasn't been standing around like a statue like the rest might have thought; the proceedings looked like a summoning ritual of sorts, though things seemed a bit off from the usual things involved with rituals that he once investigated. Not a trace of blood and gore either visually or through other senses is detectable, which is usually present in such rituals. And there were no obvious means of protection to cage in the summoned demon or devil.

And then there were the animals. Cats, dogs, frogs, and other such small animals typical of the creatures used as sacrifices to lure in a demon or two were present, but what threw this off were the strange red reptile with a flaming tail, a bizarre huge floating eyeball and the blue-hued dragon, which actually looked more cute that scary. Furthermore, there was no hint of infernal presence in any of the creatures, let alone the surroundings, and no hellish scent in the air.

Jeers from the crowd drew his attention back to the crowd. The language here was strange to his ears, the closest thing he could compare it with was a French dialect spoken with a thick accent. He could understand and speak French. He had to learn it since he had a job in French–speaking areas at times and there's also a known fact that things are sexier when spoken in French, the many of girls he picked up loved it, Lady and Trish may have been exceptions. Lady usually shuts him up with a bullet to the head, whilst Trish would either blast him with lightning and/or stab him with his own father's sword, Sparda.

At the moment, try as he might to understand what is being said but the words were really off and he simply couldn't make sense of the grammar, One of the crowd, apparently another student with red hair and one of the biggest chests he's ever seen since Nevan and the Hell Succubi, calls out something which sounds mocking and begins to laugh in an obviously stilted and cruel manner. He took note of both the hostility and the fact that he can't comprehend just what it is that was being said. He remembered the days he's being bullied in his youth before his powers awakened.

The crowd now seemed to be directing its attention at the pink-haired girl now looking towards him as she spoke with the middle-aged professor who is likely to be a teacher if this is what he deduced it could be, growing redder and more obviously furious with every word from the man. She was very thin of frame, with a head of long hair, so strawberry blonde that it appeared almost pink in the high sunlight framing a pretty face which the more Dante looked resembles a beautiful doll, not as creepy as what he usually encountered and eyes such a light shade of brown that they appeared almost amber. And in his view, little more than elementary school kid of fourteen, he remembered that one time when he took care of a certain Patty Lowell.

Then he wondered, after all these years in hell, he thought of other things which are forgotten from the time he spent eliminating every last one of the devils.

At this moment the girl stood in front of him, rising up to her toes and reaching her hand around his neck, trying for Dante to bend down to her level. When she tried to pull him down, he resisted, until she growled at him, more of the incomprehensible words spoken out tinged with anger.

Dante has no idea what to do at the moment so decided to go with the flow, as the image of the girl and Patty's image seem to merge in his eyes. Dante stopped resisting, the girl having noticed of it as he finally acquiesced to her demand, and had him bend down towards her. She began to chant, obviously the spell to complete whatever rite this thing was.

She kissed him.

The kiss was light, short, and chaste before she pulled back. For a second Dante just stood there, in an amused expression.

"Please come back in ten years, and I'll take you on a date." He chuckled

Then the pain started. His body felt like burning up, the closest sensation Dante could come up with was being stabbed by Mundus with the spears of light, but much more mild than that heated attack. The burning intensified itself then slowly turned into 'moderate annoyance' and finally settles on the back of his right hand. Lifting it to his sight, the Son of Sparda saw runes of some sort glowing on it through the opening in the back of his glove. His flesh sizzled, much like a frying burger on a pan. As his natural healing powers kicked in, a pair of hands reached out and grasped his, strong and with a firm grip, pulling it to the inspection of the elder, bald man apparently overseeing the ritual. Normally, such behaviour would have gotten the man's bald head slammed repeatedly into the hard concrete, his brains spilling out onto the grass, but considering the current state of Dante's relaxed mood, and the fact that it seemed to be little more than scholarly interest judging by the man's manner kept the half-devil's hand from dealing damage. To be honest, he's curious about it himself.

"Fuck it, if I'm stuck here, then I'm gonna need answers." Dante said, uncomfortable with the fact that the the man in black robes is closely looking at the back of his right hand.

Suddenly, the man inspecting his hand takes a small well, wand, says a few unintelligble words, points the wand at the devil hunter.

Dante suddenly felt a small force of magical energy slam into him, and slowly mingle with his own demonic magic, the spell also gave the usual sparkling effect.

"Now that its fixed, do you understand me?" the man spoke to Dante, now in perfect English, complete with a nigh noticable French accent.

"Yeah, perfectly." The Devil Hunter nodded. as he finally managed to understand the murmurings of the crowd.

Mainly directed at him, and the petite pinkette.

"I suppose you need some explanation about this. Come with us to the Academy M'seiu..."

"Dante, the name's Dante."

"I'm Colbert, Jean Colbert , a professor of Tristain Academy of Magic. "

The man in black robes, apparently is a school teacher... of magic, turns his heels to face the rest of the student body and said to them.

"Well, let's go back to class, everyone."

The middle-aged teacher turned on his heel, then rose gently into the air. The other young people, apparently students also floated up.

Dante whistled. "Well, What do you know...they can fly."

Everyone who was floating quietly moved towards the stone walls of the castle in the distance. Leaving the Devil Hunter calmly watching them float off.

He then looked sideways to find that his summoner isn't joining them.

"Louise, you'd better walk back" Colbert suggested, looking rather uncomfortable as he did.

"She shouldn't try to fly. She can't even manage levitation." one student needledas she flew off.

The rest of the students laughed, just to spite the little mage-to-be, but kept a wary eye on the crimson coated man beside her.

Dante just observed, as he noticed that his summoner looked depressed at the statement. Colbert gazed at the two worriedly.

Tossing his coin once more leaving it to luck on what his course of action would be...

He then takes a step, "Don't worry about that, we'll follow you guys shortly."

After the rest of the floating students left, Dante took another look to the dimunitive mage, as she heaved a sigh.

"We still haven't introduced to each other properly yet, haven't we?"

She nods absently.

"The name's Dante. Odd jobs man."

"Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière of the Vallière Family." she murmured, still not out of her funk, causing dante to raise an eyebrow.

"Sounds like a mouthful, can I just call you Louise?" he asked, more like forced to let him call her that.

She nods slowly.

"Cool. Now that we know each other, allow me to take you for a ride." Dante grinned as he gestured to the huge motorcycle.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Later...

The Headmaster's Office was located on the topmost floor of the tower. Sir Osmond, the current Headmaster of Tristain Magic Academy, was sitting with his elbows propped on his elegantly built sequoia desk, looking unbearably bored as he shook his white beard and hair.

he slowly murmured "hrm" and pulled open a desk drawer. From inside he procured a smoking pipe. Miss Longueville, the secretary who had been writing something at the other desk placed to the side of the room, waved her feather quill.

The pipe floated into the air and landed in Miss Longueville's palm. Sir Osmond muttered dejectedly, "Is it fun taking away an old man's little pleasures? Miss, um..."

"Managing your health is also part of my job, Sir Osmond.", emphasis on the old.

Sir Osmond stood up from his chair and walked up to the cool and collected Miss Longueville. Stopping behind the seated lady, he closed his eyes, his expression grave.

"If the days keep passing by so peacefully, figuring out how to spend time is going to become a rather big problem."

The wrinkles etched deeply on Osmond's face were only hints to the history of his life. People guessed him to be a hundred years old, even three hundred or more. But his true age no one really knew. It's possible he himself didn't remember anymore either.

"Old Osmond," Miss Longueville spoke up without taking her eyes off the feather quill that was scribbling away on the parchment.

"What is it? Miss..."

"Please stop talking about having nothing to do as an excuse to touch my butt."

Sir Osmond then opened his mouth slightly and began walking around in tottering steps.

"Please also refrain from pretending to be senile whenever a situation goes bad," Longueville added calmly.

Sir Osmond sighed deeply. It was the sight of a man bearing the weight of many troubles.

"Where do you think the ultimate truth to everthing lies? Haven't you ever wondered that? M'selle..."

"Wherever it is, I assure you, it's not underneath my skirt, so please stop sneaking your mouse under the desk."

Sir Osmond's face fell, and he murmured sadly, "Mótsognir."

From under Miss Longueville's desk scurried out a little white mouse. Dashing up Old Osmond's leg and perched on his shoulder, twitching its tiny head. He fished out some nuts from a pocket and held one out to the mouse.

"Squeak," the mouse chittered, apparently pleased.

"You're my only truly trustworthy friend, Mótsognir."

The mouse began nibbling on the nut. It disappeared quickly, and the mouse chittered "chuchu" once more.

"Ah, yes, yes. You want more? Very well, I shall give you more. But first, I would ask that you report back, Mótsognir."

"Squeak, Squeak"

"I see. White and plain white too, hrm. But Miss Longueville should really stick to black with laces. Wouldn't you agree, my cute Mótsognir?"

Miss Longueville's eyebrows twitched.

"OLD Osmond." ephasizing on the old.

"What is it?"

"The next time you do that, I'm reporting it to the palace."

"Don't get all prissy just because I peeked at your underwear! At this rate, you'll never get married! Ah! To be young again... Miss..."

Old Osmond began stroking Miss Longueville's butt without hesitation.

Miss Longueville gracefully stood up and wordlessly kicked her boss around.

"Sorry. Stop. Ow. I won't do it anymore. Really."

Old Osmond covered his head and cowered. Miss Longueville panted heavily as she accelerated in kicking Osmond currently down on the floor.

"Ack! How can you! Ow! Treat a senior! Ouch! In Ow! This Manner! Hey! Ouch! Watch It!"

This "peaceful" moment was interrupted by a sudden intrusion.

Jean Colbert, along with Louise entered the room, behind them is a white haired young man clad in red.

They saw.

"Looks like they're having fun. Did we come at the wrong time?" The crimson clad man asked Colbert.

"..."

"S-S-So sorry for intruding."

Then closed the door.

"Wait, its not what you think!"

／人◕ .◕人＼

Moments after the incident

Louise is sore and tired from the most harrowing ride she ever had in her 16 year old life. The contraption that came with her familiar, Dante is actually a two-wheeled vehicle, in which the rode in a similar way as riding a horse, with Louise sitting behind the Devil Hunter, hanging on for dear life, as the motorcycle, Dante called Sleipnir, raced in a speed that was beyond the speed she travelled on land before. The onrushing wind tousled her hair, and her uniform and cape, flapping wildly, and her screaming at the top of her lungs out of fear.

'Oh Founder, please get us to our destination safely,' she prayed in her thoughts. as they sped down the dirt road.

a voice took her from her train of thoughts. "Hey kid, you Okay?", it was Dante, leanng down towards the pinkette.

"I am not riding that thing again." she growled,

'Looks like she got some of her spunk back' Dante thought, absently looking around, and at the principal, proving indeed that this place is a school for magicians. The principal sported the look of the classical wizard, who incidentally looked like a character he saw from the Lord of the Rings movies, to the forcing himself not to refer to the old man as 'Gandalf'.

"Like I was saying, the fact that you have a rune on your hand indicates that you are contracted to be M'selle Valliere's familiar."

"You mean, I became someone's pet?" Dante's voice turned rough, causing the other people to stifle a shudder for some reason.

"Well, you could say it more like a magical assistant. But this is the first case we saw of a human summoned to be a familiar." Colbert said, "The runes inscribed n your hand is pretty unique, I will personally investigate on this matter."

"But for now, I suggest you go with M'selle Valliere, since you are her... er... guest." Osmond added as he stroked his long white beard.

Dante and Louise were led out of the office by the secretary Longueville. Who seems to be looking at the Devil Hunter suspiciously similar to a shy, highschool girl towards her crush.

"We'll inform you when we get some more information about your situation." Colbert promised, as the office door closed on the two.

The two stragglers finally made it to Louise' dormitory room.

Louise at this point has already got over from the depression earlier, and is now prepared for round two of breaking her familiar to her will.

Looking around, Dante comments "As expected of the modern Middle-Age comforts..."

He was then surprised when Louise took her clothes off in front of him, panties included, put on her sleeping clothes, and thrust into him the dirty clothes.

"..."

"Dante, wash these clothes."

"Wait, what did you say?" Using his left pinky Dante cleared his ear to make sure he heard right.

"Wash my clothes."

"Okay...Surely, I didn't hear you ordering me to.."

"Yes I am ORDERING you to WASH. MY. CLO-"

her order was cut off as a black blur passed way too close to her head and struck the wall behind her.

It was the skull guarded Rebellion, imbedded halfway. Thrown by Dante.

At her.

At that moment, Louise thought that her entire life just flashed before her.

The Devil Hunter now towered over her, exuding an even more scarier aura than she had ever seen. As Dante looked straight into her eyes, she could swear that it was glowing red.

"Let me tell you something, Kid" Dante smiled ferally, "If there are things that I hate the most. It's people ordering me around like they own me."

To a small sixteen year-old girl, it seemed that a terrible, indescribable image of a creature replaced the rather reasonable, albeit quirky man. Dante and the creature's image superimposed each other for a brief second, as the Dante relaxed, as he saw how terrified the girl is.

"But if you ask nicely, I just might do whatever you request." He added as he smiled, extending his left hand.

The imbedded Rebellion shook, and smoothly removed itself from the wall, and back to his waiting hand in a blur of movement.

"Now. What is it that you would like me to do?" He asked.

"Er...Nothing." Louise shrank back, her knees knocking against each other.

Dante takes the coin once more, "About that familiar thing," he began, "How do you like taking a gamble with me?"

"W-W-What?" she asked,

"I mean, I'll agree to be your familiar of sorts, if you win."

He almost smirked at the girl as hope lit up her face, then darkened as she realized the other side of the bet.

"And if I lose?" she asked, nervously.

"I get to leave."

"Oh." was all she said, thinking after seeing Dante get angry like earlier, she's expecting that she wuld be killed and mutilated in some way or another.

"Now. Do we have a bet or what?" Dante asked the dimunitive mage.

At that moment, Louise decided to go on with the bet. She has nothing much to lose anyway.

She nods her head meekly.

Dante cracked a smile "Then we have a bet. Heads you win, tails you lose." he announces the gamble as he flicked the coin up with his thumb, spinning rapidly, and caught it in a flash.

"Okay, lets see the results."

Louise held her breath.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Author notes:

So Sorry for posting the wrong doc : )

I hope you will forgive me for mixing up the character..

: ) But at least this is how I view Dante. Maybe later, You'll see other facets. Bye for now. : )


	3. Mission 3 : Lucky Zero, Blastin Class

Familiars Never Cry: Chapter 3 – Lucky Zero, Blastin' Class.

Disclaimer: the Familiar of Zero and Devil May Cry does not belong to me.

Since this is a fanfic, there will be some similarities abound here and there. There will be some excerpts from the original works and some fanfic I just find too cool not to use so kudos to those guys.(Please see Author's P.S. for further details)

I will not take credit for this work since this is a fanfic anyway; I will just write and adapt some of the works abound for the fun of writing and putting together a tale nothing more. So bash me if you wish. Henceforth, whether readers will like this fic or not, I will stand on what I will put together.

But then again, I will always welcome criticisms.

I will see this through. To the end. Wherever it may be.

To those who don't wish to continue any longer, feel free to click away from here.

To those who wish to continue reading this fic, I welcome you and appreciate your patience.

Let's begin….

Dante sighed as he looked at the twin moons hanging over the night sky. He then reminisces the events which transpired earlier...

"Alright, time to see who won." Dante declared as he presented his closed hand holding the coin.

Louise has never been so nervous in her life. After experiencing a whirlwind of events that gave her a range of emotions all at the almost same time, mainly the joy of having done something right with magic for a change, the frustration that the familiar she called doesn't follow her commands, the confusion of what to do, and lastly the fear instilled upon her by the familiar she had summoned.

She never imagined she would be summoning a being in the form of Dante. From what she just witnessed, Dante's demeanor and actions suggested he is not some weak, pathetic commoner, let alone an ordinary man.

Looking once more at the white-haired man's smirking face, she then managed squeak a question at him "Just who are you?"

Dante, who is on a roll with the whole gambling thing for the first time in years, just grinned.

"Those things can wait." he replied as he unclenched his hand holding the coin for her to see.

"Let's see who Lady Luck will smile upon."

Louise of course, the short-tank that she is, had to stand a bit on he toes to see what side won. She sees the coin, facing up is engraved with an image of a woman in a provocative pose, as she wielded what appeared to be a pair of guns. Louise had seen guns before but not the kind that the image is showing. The weapons looked too big for the woman to use...

"Seems like you got lucky, Kid." smiled Dante, clapping his free hand on her shoulder, causing Louise to quit staring at the coin, and gape in amazement at what Dante just said.

"I..I won?"

"You sure did, and as promised…" Dante congratulated the girl,

"But then again..." Dante took a pause, and closes his eyes in a thinking pose.

Louise suddenly turned pale. Is he planning to not honor the bet?

She knew he could literally destroy her with his bare hands, seeing how easily and powerfully Dante threw his gigantic broadsword deeply into the castle wall.

Then again, Dante can just do whatever he wanted whether Louise liked it or not. In a battle of wills the difference in their power is that staggering that there isn't a single sign of competition, even if Louise ever considered her magical ability as a power level, against his presence alone, it was closer to nil if anything.

"Hmm…" Dante hummed, eyes closed and rubbing his chin, deep in his thoughts, then opens his eyes and said "Since you won, I decided to take the job as your...guardian."

"EEEEEEHHHHHHH! G-G-Guardian?"

"Well, why not? Familiars are magical animal partners of witches and wizards. And I refuse to be referred to as an animal." Dante stated as a matter of factly.

'Not unless it's said to me a very hot and sexy babe.' He thought.

"So a guardian is the best term to describe my position."

"That settles it then," Dante rambled on, a he stoops down to Louise' eye level as he stated the clauses of their contract.

"I'll be at your service as your guardian and protector, and will take out anything that can pose as a threat. And as long as you ask nicely I will honor your requests, but its reasonableness is at my discretion if I will take that particular task on. You as my contractor, have the responsibility to provide for me for my services at least at the basic necessities such as food and shelter. This contract will remain as so until such time as it is deemed to be void by both parties. Do you agree?"

Louise can't do anything else but to redo her performance impression of a goldfish…

"Awa wawawawawa.." She nods

"Yeah, you understood." Dante smirked, standing up to his full height.

He then walks toward the door, before turning around to regard his new contractor, who is now collapsed on her knees, staring blankly at the wall.

"Well since I don't have much to do here, I'll be out for a while to get my bearings on this place. Is that cool with you?" Dante asked,

A moment of silence occurred between them.

"Y-yes, please do so." Replied the presently recovering Louise as she shakily tries to stand up and managed to reach her bed.

"Sweet Dreams then, princess." Dante said as he left the room.

And if Louise would have looked around the room, she might have noticed that something discarded earlier can't be seen.

(-.-)

After much wandering around, ending up at dead ends and much, much back tracking, Dante manages to finally get hang of the place.

The castle isn't so bad at all to his taste, considering that it is well kept in good condition, and there is no sign of any dark or demonic energy present anywhere he went. Unlike the castles he "visited" before.

Though he really wished this world actually had working modern conveniences, such as a proper toilet. He haven't seen any sign of electricity or any kind of modern appliance. Not a fridge, a stove, hell, not even a friggin' light bulb. He's starting to feel a craving for some pizza or beer. And he knew eventually he was going to have to use the restroom and the only thing he could pray for there was at least they had running water for toilets, or at least some kind of hygienic stuff available. Not that Dante mind the entire Middle-Age retro feel and all, but still.

"And Lady thought my pad was a pig sty." He said to no one in particular.

Missed his world he might, but he's in no hurry to get back for now, since there isn't anything to go back to, with the devils possibly cleared out of hell and the human world, being taken care of by other competent Devil Hunters he organized before he left for Dumary Island and the some devils who, like his father, took up arms to defend that world, the world that Sparda loved and lived in which he protected during his lifetime.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind. Did his father actually met his demise and was killed in some battlefield years before? Or was he thrown in another world similar to this one, and was unable to return?

As suddenly as that thought went through his mind, it also dissipated in a flash.

Making a turn at a corner, he sees two figures conversing further down the dormitory corridor.

One of them, he recognized as one of the school kids picking on Louise, Guiché, a handsome young man and a self styled Don Juan, similar to the point that he wears his frilled shirt with his chest exposed and uses roses as his motif.

Dante couldn't help but stifle a laugh as he watched the stylish boy woo the brown haired girl, named Katie, who actually blushed at the bunch of obviously nonsensical praises Guiche bestowed upon the hapless girl. Though to be fair, the girl is attractive in her own right. He had her eating out by the palm of his hand.

'Just a few more right words and she's ready for the taking. Not bad, for a rookie.' Dante thought as he bemusedly smiled at the scene, reminding him of his past pursuits during his younger days as a mercenary for hire.

Though most of his endeavors on the opposite sex were phenomenally successful, it usually ends up either getting himself into a brawl with the girl's Exes, a father, or even an occasional devil, who wooed the girl for darker purposes. Every venture resulted with the girl either going the other way, away from Dante to live on quietly, or just getting killed in the crossfire. Either way, serious relationships then are far too impossible at that time since the profession he chose is extremely dangerous to normal people.

How about now? With the danger of devils utterly annihilated, will he finally find someone for him just like his old man did?

As if that will worry the happy-go-lucky devil hunter any further.

Erasing the thought off his mind, Dante turned away from the two and left.

The boy apparently recognized Dante when the blond him call out, "You. Aren't you the commoner that Louise summoned?"

"So it seems," Dante replied, not sparing him a glance back. He was one of the students that had been laughing at Louise when she had called Dante forth.

"Hmph," he snorted disdainfully, striking a pose for the onlooking enraptured girl. "How rude. It must be a terrible shame to have something as boorish as a commoner for a familiar."

'Call me out again and you're Swiss cheese.' Dante thought

"Still, I'm a whole lot better than a giant mole," Dante replied back to him, grinning.

Dante turned into a corner while he was still in the midst of sputtering in outrage over the jab. At the moment, the he's only person in this castle he'll somehow care for, and she was currently asleep in her bed. It was another two turns before he found what he was looking for. Quietly running a feather duster over a series of vases was a maid.

"Excuse me," Dante said from behind her, and the girl jumped in surprise. Dante seemed to have snuck up on her, without intention. When she whirled, she came face to chest with him, and her eyes widened as she squeaked slightly while she glanced up to finally see the devil hunter's face. "Excuse me," Dante asked again, giving her a gentle and disarming smile. "Would you happen to know where I can find someone to wash these?" holding up Louise's dirty laundry.

The maid, who he learned to be called Siesta, had been quite cooperative she showed Dante where to take the clothes for cleaning. Though she appeared to originally have been intimidated by his size and the fact that he had been summoned in such a scary manner, she quickly warmed up to Dante as he treated her politely and casually at that. She had even stayed behind to help wash a bit of the pile of clothes, with the helper, Iris.

Still, she couldn't linger long and quickly had to return to her own duties.

But while she was helping him look for the laundry area, she did manage to answer many of the questions that he had about this world. She was also able to explain to Dante the difference between nobles and commoners. The nobles were the equivalent of the aristocracy of medieval Europe, and they were apparently every one of them can use magic in one form or another. They practiced their arts freely and quite often without care to the consequences, and looked down upon and subjugated those who could not freely command the powers of magic like they did. They were for the most part flighty, self-absorbed, and arrogant twits.

Dante, who doesn't give a damn about other things other than demon hunting and vengeance, albeit having great respect to the power which he attained, the very thought of them taking their powers in such manner left a somehow annoyed at the current society of the world he's in.

A kettle calling a pot black…

Still, this was where he ended up. Best make the most of it he decided.

It was past midnight as Dante stood on the highest spire of the highest tower of what he now knew to be a magical academy. The moon was a bright crescent in the sky that was unnaturally clear compared to the skies of his current home world.

Taking a good look of the surrounding scenery under the twin moons, he scanned the surroundings

This place mostly consisted of rolling lush green plains, occasionally dotted with hills and forests, and a glimmer of the small town he spied during the ride earlier.

'Overall, I find the place quite peaceful, rather too peaceful for my taste, but otherwise a welcome change of pace. Until I get bored again that is.' Dante sighed,

Still, being stuck in unfamiliar territories is pretty much part of the job description. During his stay in Hell, he made it to a point to keep his senses sharp, since sometimes hidden horrors lie underneath such a peaceful exterior. He doesn't want to get himself caught with the pants down.

Because he usually attacks the enemies that way during his tenure in his father's world.

Thinking back So far Louise as his current contractor seemed to be more along the lines of a spoiled self absorbed little princess who obviously had views of what was appropriate that conflicted with the harsh light of reality. Of course, after getting to know that there are people like Dante that won't be easily be bossed around, she managed to clam up nicely.

Still she's still lucky. Had it the one summoned been someone like Arkham, he would've used that little priss as a sacrifice to summon hell on earth by now. And if it were Vergil...

The devil hunter cracked his knuckles, trying to feel the magic that surrounds the general area, and to get a feel of the magical energy, and maybe get some answers to why he was here, or if there are any dangers present.

To his surprise and relief, he felt no malevolent energy within or without the castle, and the fact that he could tap to the ambient magic to boost him up when things come to worse. Oh Yeah, with this much magic around, he felt that there are things that he can do even better than he could regularly. He might as well try it out at a later time.

Preparing to go inside, his hearing caught the faintest sound of flapping wings. He was able to track the source of the noise. Some hundred yards above him was the girl and the dragon that he had picked out of the crowd at the summoning before. The girl was exceptionally thin and had the brightest blue hair he'd ever seen. Grasped firmly in her one hand, is a long and crooked staff, vaguely reminiscent of a shepherd's crook. Even in the dark he could feel her curious gaze upon the hunter.

Raising his hand to greet the distant watcher, and she seemed mildly startled that Dante had managed to see her out at such a distance in the dark. His form was lit from below by the lights of the castle which should have even further narrowed his natural night vision. Reluctantly, the girl raised her own staff in response to the gesture.

With a final look at the girl, he turned my attention back to the castle grounds below, and then stepped off the ledge. Dante decided to leave his new roost by diving head-first from the roof.

Why?

Just because he felt like doing it.

She must have calmly been observing the situation at hand, like Dante jumping off the tallest tower of the school for instance. Yeah as if that normally happens.

'Oh crap, it seemed like I'm committing suicide here...' Dante thought as he saw the dragon and its rider turned to give chase to the now freefalling man.

The dragon-rider moved in to rescue this crazy dude falling from an extremely tall building, and realizing that she's not going to make it, but she tried to push on anyway; imagine to her as he flashed a cocky smile and a two-fingered salute at the bewildered young lady as he came within her visual range.

Plummeting nearly eight stories down Dante went on. The wind tugging at his clothing and whipping shoulder length hair around his ears, he waited patiently for that moment to make a move. Shifting his centre of gravity, he changed the position from diving headfirst to the ground, to gracefully landing on his feet in just seconds before his body hit the ground, without much disturbance to the drop-point.

'Damn, I'm so awesome… 'Dante grinned.

As he turned nonchalantly to enter the tower that he had been hanging around on top before from the base, the rush of wind beneath powerful wings buffeted him suddenly. With a curious glance and sees the dragon and its rider who had before been nearly a hundred yards away now no more than a dozen. The cute dragon's powerful wings pumped hard, pulling itself out of what had no doubt been a very fast and hard dive. The rider grasped the dragon's neck tightly, in order to keep herself from being thrown from her mount. Her eyes were locked on his and this time her shock can be seen on them.

'Ah. Those are beautiful eyes.' Dante thought. 'If only you're older..."

"Were you trying to save me?" Dante queried.

In a voice almost too quiet for him to hear, even for someone with overly hyper sensitive ears, she answered,

"Yes."

'No duh, Ya dolt!' Dante chided himself.

'As she had seen me step off the ledge and probably assumed that I was going to kill myself. She had gallantly swooped down in an effort to try and keep me from redecorating the ground below.' He smiled at the thought.

She had not expected for Dante to be able to take the fall so easily and without injury. He could see the question in her eyes as she tried to figure out just how...

"That's quite nice of you. Though it wasn't really necessary, but thanks for the effort anyway," Dante turns to face her completely and bow to her, his smile even wider now without the usual sarcasm.

There aren't much people willing to do that in back on earth. The dragon settled to the ground and let loose a soft trill like purr not different to a cat as the girl dismounted. Dante walks to the two, and nods toward them, as he attempts to touch the dragon that, to his surprise, was quite friendly to him. And something, a magical energy seems to course through his body as he petted the dragon, which is all too happy with the attention.

"Sylphid, usually isn't friendly to strangers" the bluenette stated in a voice he could barely hear, Dante finally manages to look at her closer.

With her blue hair cut in a pageboy style, she was short, almost as short as Louise, but is cute in her own way, wearing a pair of small rectangular glasses.

"How?" she asked. Dante took a second to figure out she was trying to ask and spoke up to confirm before answering.

"How did I survive? It's because I'm too cool to die." Dante joked,

She didn't respond verbally, just gave the briefest lowering of her head in a nod.

"I think you know about it already." Dante stated ominously.

When her eyes widen as she realizes what he's actually implying, Dante gives her a brief wink before turning around, and whistles as he went walking back into the tower.

Morning came to the Academy,

Louise, was suddenly snapped wide awake by the sound of the curtains being flung open, sending a large amount of light streaming throughout the room.

"Mmmm..."

"Hey princess, wake up. Time for school." a voice called out to her

"Mnya..."

Suddenly, Louise felt that the covers are taken from her, sending her sitting upright groggily.

"Mwuh?"

Dante sighed at the pathetic sight that is Louise at the moment. This girl probably never did a menial task in her life. She's so different from the hard working Patty, who tends to be Dante's alarm clock from time to time.

She's now snoozing as she sat.

Dante smirks at an idea that flashed in his head. And summons one of his favourite Devil-Arm, in a quick flash of light.

Louise was currently dreaming of summoning a familiar human, a commoner, so different from the scary man in red. It was a boy bearing a blue long sleeved coat, who looks similar to one of the maids in the castle. His name was Sai...

"JAAAANGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEW ! WEEEEEWEEEEEEEEEEEW !"

She was suddenly snapped from the dream, just as she was about to beat the young man with a riding crop for disobedience.

It was the strangest, loudest sounds that she had ever heard in her entire life. It could only described as an extremely distorted music made from a stringed instrument, only it was played in a quick and powerful cadence.

(Dante plays - Devils Never Cry, electric guitar cover version)

"What in the Founder's name is that?" Louise shouts, as she clapped her hands to her ears to lessen the ear damage.

Looking towards the source of the disturbance, she sees a white-haired, crimson coated man playing what appeared to be a large, strangely shaped purple lute, with bats as its main motiff, whose strings looked more like strands of crackling lightning. Meet the Devil-Arm, Nevan.

Then a flood of memories came upon the diminutive mage, as she realized who this man was...

"..."

Dante upon finding that his ward-to-be is awakened by the racket he's making, stopped playing with said instrument.

"Yo, Good Morning."Dante greeted her giving a brief wave to her.

"..." Louise wordlessly shrank back to the farthest edge of her bed.

Dante sighed, and said admonishingly, "Don't you have classes to attend to?"

"..."

Then she happened to glance toward the clothes hamper, and found that her dirty clothes are now washed clean and carefully folded. She then turned to the devil hunter.

"Did you..."

"What? Don't I have a right to be nice? But for the record, I didn't do the washing." Dante said with a shrug, as he dispelled Nevan.

"How did you do that?" Louise gaped as this is the first time she had seen Dante do something other than his physical prowess.

"Magic. I'll tell you about it later. Now get dressed, and let's get some grub." Dante said as he left the room to give the kid some privacy, feeling rather good to have managed to pull the prank he's been wishing to do at least once. There might be a repeat performance.

(O.O)

Later,

The Academy of Magic's dining hall was the tallest and centermost building on the premises. Inside, three extremely long tables were arranged parallel to each other. Each one looked like it could easily seat a hundred people. The table at which Louise and all the second years sat was the middle table.

It appeared that students could be identified by the color of their cloaks. Viewed from the entrance, everyone sitting on the left-hand table looked a little older and wore purple cloaks — third years.

The students sitting on the right-hand table wore brown cloaks — first years. So they're like year-level jerseys, Dante thought.

Every single mage on the school grounds, students and teachers alike, gathered here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

On an upper level, he could see teachers enjoying pleasant chatter.

All the tables were magnificently decorated.

Numerous candles, bunches of flowers, baskets full of fruit...

It was far too grand for a breakfast. A huge roasted chicken taunted Dante which he attacked with relish. Other than that, there was also wine and a pie baked in the shape of a trout. Dante wondered if there is beer in this world at all.

The two ate at a regular pace as two garnered stares from the rest of the students, and whispered among themselves.

"What's up with them." Dante asked, looking about the hall.

"They're talking about us, obviously, since it has never been a human being summoned as a familiar before." Louise explained,

"Well, they're basically half-right." agreed the devil hunter, chuckling with a private joke.

"If you're already done, we might as well go to class."

The classrooms in the Academy of Magic were similar to university lecture halls. And like everything else, they were constructed from stone. The lecturing teacher stood at the lowest level, and the seats were arranged upward like stairs. When Dante and Louise entered, every student in the room simultaneously turned their heads towards them.

And then the laughter began. One particular student, a well tanned and busty chick, Kirche was there as well, surrounded by a group of boys.

'I see, so she really does have them wrapped around her little finger. She's being treated like a queen by all of those guys. Well, it's not surprising with her impressive bust. I guess big breasts are big breasts, no matter where you go.' Dante thought, trying hard not to ogle at the fleshy globes...that much.

The familiars that everyone had brought along were a varied bunch.

Kirche's salamander was curled asleep under her chair. There were students with owls resting on their shoulders. From a window, a gigantic snake peered into the class. One boy whistled, and the snake withdrew its head. Other than those, there were also ravens and cats.

But what drew Dante's attention the most were the creatures that he encountered during his tenure in Hell, were milling around him.

He spotted a lizard with six legs. That's gotta be... Dante tried to recall what creature was it. A basilisk. There was also a huge eyeball floating gently in midair. Deciding to ask about it later, Dante just chose to take a seat next to Louise. Louise just stared at him.

"What?"

"N-n-nothing." Louise said as she looked down on the floor.

Dante just shrugs and decided to just continue observing and maybe learn something about the world he got called in.

Louise glanced at him, but didn't say anything this time.

The door opened, and the teacher entered.

She was a middle-aged woman dressed in a voluminous purple robe and wearing a hat. She had a plump, round face with a friendly expression on it.

"Is that lady a magician too?" Dante whispered to Louise.

"Isn't it obvious?" Louise answered rather blandly.

The woman gazed around the classroom and spoke with a satisfied smile.

"Well, everyone, it seems that the Springtime Familiar Summoning was a great success. I, Chevreuse, always enjoy seeing the new familiars that are summoned each spring."

Louise cast her eyes elsewhere.

"My, my. You've summoned quite a handsome familiar, Miss Vallière," she remarked as she looked at Dante. The comment was fairly innocent, no one dared to laugh as Dante gave deadly glares to student who planned to dare, much to Louise's relief.

Then someone grew enough balls to say,

"Louise the Zero! Don't go around grabbing random commoners off the street just because you can't summon anything!"

Then the class burst to laughter.

Louise's long blonde hair billowed as she stood up. She raised her cute voice in anger.

"No! I did everything properly! And he appeared!"

"Don't lie! I bet you couldn't even cast 'Summon Servant' properly, right?"

The other students chuckled.

"Madam Chevreuse! I've been insulted! Malicorne the 'Common Cold' just insulted me!"

Louise banged her fist against the tabletop in protest.

"Common cold? I'm Malicorne the Windward! I haven't caught any cold!"

"Well, your hoarse voice sounds exactly like you've caught one!"

The boy called Malicorne stood up and glared at Louise. Chevreuse pointed at them with the wand in her hand. The two suddenly jerked about like puppets on a string and rigidly sat back down.

"M'selle Vallière, M'sieu Malicorne. Please stop this unnecessary argument."

Louise looked visibly dejected. All the vivacity that she'd shown just earlier seemed to have evaporated.

"Calling friends 'Zero' or 'Common Cold' is not acceptable. Do you understand?"

"Madam Chevreuse, I'm only called that as a joke, but for Louise, it's the truth."

A few giggles broke out from somewhere. Dante remained attentive to the remainder of the scene.

'I'll probably let the teacher do her job from here on in.' He thought

Chevreuse looked around the classroom with a severe expression. She pointed her wand again, and, as if from nowhere, the mouths of the students who'd giggled were suddenly filled with lumps of red clay.

'Yeah, I'm right' Dante grinned.

"You people shall continue the lesson in that state."

This put a firm stopper on any further outbursts.

"Now then, let's begin the lesson."

Chevreuse coughed heavily and waved her wand. A few pebbles materialized on her desktop.

"My Runic name is 'Red Clay.' Chevreuse the Red Clay. This year, I will be teaching you all the magic of the Earth element. Do you know the four great elements of magic, M'sieu Malicorne?"

"Y-Yes, Madam Chevreuse. They are Fire, Water, Earth and Wind."

Chevreuse nodded.

"And combined with the now-lost element of 'Void,' there are five elements in total - as everyone should already know. Of the five elements, I believe Earth holds an extremely important position. This isn't just because my affinity is Earth, nor is it simply a personal preference."

Once again, Chevreuse coughed heavily.

"The magic of Earth is very important magic that governs the creation of all matter. If it wasn't for Earth magic, we wouldn't be able to produce or process necessary metals. Raising buildings from large boulders and harvesting crops would also involve much more work. In this manner, the magic of the Earth element is intimately related to everyone's life."

'Aha,' thought Dante. ' So in this world, magic is the equivalent of science and technology in my world. I think I understand now the reason Louise seems to be studying hard for, remembering a large number of books in her study desk in her room.'

"Now, everyone, please recall that the basic magic of the Earth element is 'transmutation'. While there will be people here who have already learned this in their first year, basics build foundations, so let's review it once more."

Chevreuse turned her attention to the pebbles and twirled her wand over them.

She then whispered a spell, and they began to glow brightly.

When the light dimmed away, the pebbles had been changed into sparkling lumps of metal.

"Is that g-g-gold, M'dam Chevreuse!"

Kirche leaned forward over her desk.

"No, it isn't. It's plain brass. Only Square-class mages are able to transmute to gold. I'm just..." Chevreuse gave a self-important cough. "A Triangle mage..."

"Louise." Dante poked her.

"What? We're in the middle of a lesson here!" an agitated Louise replied, forgetting who is she speaking with, then went silent.

"So, what's all this about squares and triangles supposed to mean?"

"It's the number of elements that they can add to a spell, which also determines the level of a mage."

"Hmm?"

"See, for example, you can use an Earth spell on itvs own. But if you add Fire magic to it, the overall power of the spell increases greatly," Louise explained to Dante quietly.

"Oh, I see."

"Those who can stack two elements like Fire and Earth together are called Line mages. Mrs. Chevreuse, being able to combine three elements, Earth-Earth-Fire, is a Triangle mage."

"What happens when you add an element to itself?"

"It reinforces that element and makes it stronger."

"I see. So in other words, you could say that the teacher over there is a fairly powerful mage, because she's a Triangle?"

"Exactly."

"How many can you add, Louise?"

She didn't answer.

The teacher noticed them talking.

"M'selle Vallière!"

"Y-Yes?"

"Please refrain from private chatter during lessons."

"I'm sorry..."

"Since you have the time to chatter, perhaps I should have you demonstrate for me?"

"Eh? Me?"

"Yes. Try changing these pebbles here into a metal of your choice."

Louise didn't stand up. She simply sat there looking troubled and fidgety.

"Hey, come on! She's pointing at you!" Dante nudged her.

"Miss Vallière! Is something the matter?"

Madam Chevreuse called for her again, but Kirche raised her voice in concern.

"Umm..."

"Yes?"

"I think it would be better if you didn't let her..."

"And why is that?"

"It's dangerous," Kirche answered plainly. The majority of the class nodded in agreement.

"Dangerous? How so?"

"This is your first time teaching Louise, right?"

"It is, but I hear she's a hard worker. Now, M'selle Vallière. Don't you worry, just try it. You won't be able to do anything if you dread making mistakes."

"Don't, Louise!" Kirche cried, her face pale.

But Louise stood up.

"I'll do it."

With a nervous expression, she walked briskly up to the front of the room.

Chevreuse stood next to Louise and smiled.

"M'selle Vallière, you have to visualize vividly the metal that you wish to transmute them into."

Giving a cute little nod, Louise waved her wand. She had never looked as adorable as in that instant when she pursed her lips to begin chanting the incantation - it was almost otherworldly.

Dante observed quietly as he felt the magic emanate from her, which seemed strange from the rest of the magical signatures he felt around the place.

In the morning sunshine streaming in from the window, Louise's strawberry-blonde hair sparkled enchantingly. Her hazel eyes shown like jewels, and her skin was a flawless white. Her sculpted nose was befitting of nobility.

If only her breasts were more filled out, she'd be perfect - almost too good. Dante smirked, that boy would be the most luckiest bastard if someone actually captured her heart.

But as he sat there thinking, the students sitting in front of him had for some reason hidden under their chairs. Something's up.

Looks like he's going to know why she gets called 'the Zero' and made fun of.

Closing her eyes, Louise uttered a short rune and flourished her wand.

Dante widened his eyes in surprise as he felt a major change in the coalescing of magical energy.

"Fuck." He muttered.

The pebbles on the desk promptly exploded.

Louise and Chevreuse caught the blast full-on and were thrown against the blackboard, as people screamed. Frightened familiars added to the chaos. Kirche's salamander suddenly woke from its sleep and stood up on its hind legs and began wildly blasted a jet of flame. A manticore burst into flight and smashed through a window to escape. Through the hole, the giant snake that had been peeking in earlier slithered in and swallowed someone's owl.

The classroom was in pandemonium.

"What the fuck was that?" Dante muttered again. Flicking off dust off his clothes.

Kirche stood up and pointed a finger at Louise.

"That's why I told you not to let her do it!"

" Vallière! For Brimir's sake, save us some grief and just quit school already!"

"My Snake's got eaten by a serpent! Snake! SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKEE!"

'Why is an owl named Snake?' Dante posed like the Thinker.

Madam Chevreuse lay on the floor; judging by her occasional twitching, at least she wasn't dead.

A soot-blackened Louise rose slowly, a miserable sight to behold. Her torn blouse revealed a slender shoulder, and her panties could be seen beneath her ripped skirt.

Still, what an amazing girl.

'One tough cookie.' Dante couldn't help but comment at how the girl is taking this in stride.

She didn't seem at all fazed by the discord in the room. She pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the soot off her face.

"Looks like I messed up a little..." she said, in a weak voice.

'That's an understatement.' Dante thought, still keeping a straight face and surveying the damage.

Of course, that elicited a vehement response from the other students.

"That wasn't 'a little'! Louise the Zero!"

"Your success rate is always ZERO!"

Dante finally understood why Louise was called "the Zero."

(-.-)

Author's P.S.

Mashing Up shit...is fun... : )

So don't take shit seriously

And just so you guys know: I don't like taking credits, I WILL ALWAYS prefer cash. : )


	4. Mission 4 What It Means To Be a Real Man

Familiars Never Cry

I will forego subtlety on this one: kudos to Mr. Blessing, and MS Word

I'm on a roll… and

This Party is Getting Crazy!

So...

Let's begin…

Mission 4: What It Means To Be a Real Man.

Picture image *Dante with his back turned to the audience both hands wielding Ebony and Ivory,and Rebellion stuck on his back, with Louise in her school uniform with her arms crossed with her confident smirk on her face, with Kalina Ann strapped on her back, in a burning battlefield surrounded by devils.* ( Manly tears, wishing I could draw it myself. WTH am I thinking?)

Meanwile in another part of the Academy...

Monsieur Colbert, a teacher who had dedicated twenty years to Tristain Magic Academy, was by now a mainstay figure.

His Runic name was "Colbert the Flame Snake," and, naturally, he was a mage specializing in fire magic.

Since the Springtime Familiar Summoning a barely two days ago, he'd been concerned about the commoner that Louise had summoned. Or more precisely, he'd been concerned with nothing but the runes that had appeared on that Man's right hand. They were rare runes indeed, so for the last few nights, he'd confined himself to the library and had been researching various texts.

Tristain Magic Academy's library was located in the same tower as the dining hall. The bookshelves were unbelievably tall, about thirty mails in height, and the way they were lined up against the walls was a spectacle to behold. And rightly so, since this place was crammed with the history of everything following the creation of the new world in Halkeginia by the Founder Brimir.

Colbert was now in a section called "Fenrir's Library" that only teachers were allowed entry to.

The ordinary bookshelves, to which students had free access, didn't hold any answers that could satisfy him.

He Levitated up to an out-of-reach shelf and scanned it intently for a particular book. His efforts were rewarded as his gaze fell upon the title of the book. It was a very old text which held descriptions of the familiars that had been used by the Founder Brimir.

His attention was focused on one particular paragraph written in it, and as he read on in fascination, his eyes grew wide. He compared the book with the sketch he'd made from memory of the runes on the Dante's right hand.

"Ah!" he gasped in surprise. At that moment, he lost the concentration necessary for maintaining his Levitation and almost fell to the floor.

Holding the tome in his arms, he hurriedly descended to the floor and ran out of the library.

His destination was the Headmaster's Office.

*(-.-)*

On Louise's side, after the class blast,

Louise trudged back to her suite, her heart feeling like it had lead weights grafted to it after the events of class. Kirche was right, she was a zero. Who else could have summoned a familiar that she couldn't control, summoned a familiar that was probably more magical than she was?

Only the Zero.

Damn it, the familiar summoning was supposed to be the solution to all her problems. It was supposed to give her a nice impressive familiar and prove to everyone that she is a great mage, that she was worthy of bearing the Vallière name. It wasn't supposed to give her a scary, quirky guy that refused to show himself as anything other than an ordinary commoner except when he was alone with her.

When she shut the door, she finally let the long-suppressed tears flow.

Weak. Magicless, worthless piece of trash. Not fit to study here, not fit for anything. Can't do magic. Can't do housework. Can't summon a good familiar, can't control the familiar she did summon. No place in the world. No role to fit in. No respect, no love. She felt she didn't deserve either.

A disgrace. She could just her Mother slicing her with a windblade for being a waste of space. She could see Father turning his back on her, disowning her. Her big sister Eleanor already hated her for being weak and always picked on her.

Oh, how Louise missed Cattleya. Her second-eldest sister was the only family willing to listen to her and accept her for who she is, and is always generous with the hugs , and she really needed a warm hug right now.

(-_-)

While Louise went to the dorm to clean up….

Dante used his free time to wander amongst the students, casually observing the culture. The students themselves were mostly unremarkable. Their features were for the most part European in nature, though every once in a while some aspect of one of them did stand out more than other. For reasons yet unknown, there seemed to be a greater variety of hair color which in no way could have existed in his original world. There were a variety of different shades of red ranging from the very light like Louise to dark and vibrant like Kirche's. There was a great deal of blonds as well, though the color spectrum here ranged from platinum to borderline brunette. But the question appeared in his mind, could it be considered the shades of blue or green hair color as blond?

Dante is currently having a staring contest with a giant floating eyeball.

"Okay. Seriously. What the hell are you supposed to be?"

It just blinked, as if that will answer Dante's question.

"It's a bugbear," a voice from behind the devil hunter answered. Glancing over his shoulder to find Siesta behind him, carrying a tray with what looked like a slice of cake, or some kind of pie on it.

How he wished for a slice of pizza right now.

"A bugbear?" Dante asked in a deadpan voice, turning back to look at it again.

"Can I ask as to what part of it resembles either a bug or a bear? It's a freaking floating eyeball."

The eye didn't seem to take offense at the blunt assessment, but it did turn away and started to float off. Dante then turned his attention to the now blushing Siesta and find her giggling into her hand at the response.

"Working hard, I see." he complemented her with a smile. She beamed up at him.

"Oh yes," she agreed happily. "Pardon my rudeness, but I don't have time to chat around for long. I have to deliver this cake." She indicated with a nod towards the table the pastry was to be delivered and Dante nodded gravely.

"I'll go with you then," Dante offered, having no much to do anyway, and moved into step alongside her.

"Oh no," she said, though she didn't sound displeased at the offer. "I mean this is supposed to be a time for you and Louise to get to know each other. I'd hate to intrude." Said it as she did, she didn't make any further attempt to chase the rather bored devil hunter off.

"We already had reached an agreement into the nature of our… relationship," Dante informed her. "And as far as getting to know me is concerned, I think she got to know me a little too much, especially when I drove my point into her. Besides, with the commotion this morning at their class, she needs time to cool down first before we resume our conversation."

"Knowing you a little too much? Drove your point into her?" she asked, sounding troubled. But it is visibly excited for reasons only she knows, she's blushing madly to the point that Dante could see the steam coming out of her head.

And then Dante realized the implication of his statement.

"It's not what you think," Dante assured her, reaching the table. She set about serving the two, a girl with long blond hair curled elegantly into what appeared to be drills and a boy whom Dante remember from last night wooing another chick. A large mole sat half on the boys lap and he stroked it as if it was the most beautiful thing alive. A small frog rested in the girl's palm. When the boy requested another tea from Siesta she agreed politely and moved to fulfil the request. As Dante went to move and follow the maid when once more the boy spoke to his back.

"You're the commoner that Louise the Zero summoned," the boy said to his back, with the tone of someone who was about to do something cruel in order to impress a girl.

Dante's eyebrow twitched

"Off to serve you mistress like the plebian you are?"

'Well now. A childish taunt thrown at the back of someone he believed wouldn't stand up for themselves. Too bad for him, he left himself way too wide open.' Dante grinned to himself 'How will he react with this comeback?'

"Oh, It's the Don Juan-nnabe from last night," the devil hunter responded chuckling, turning around in time to catch the boy's eyes bugging out over the rather strange namecalling Dante gave him, and felt like an insult.

"Chatting up another lady like you did last night? What's the matter, the girl in the brown cape's soufflés not good enough for you?"

"Y-y-you! How dare you address a noble in such a fashion, commoner?" he demanded, seemingly genuinely shocked at how easily Dante managed to put him in his place, and so willingly at that. "I shall have you…"

Whatever it was that he was going to have me do was interrupted by the blond girl.

"Guiche," she interrupted, her brow furrowing. "What is he talking about?"

The boy, Guiche, suddenly looked a lot less concerned about me and more with mending the fortress that Dante had just demolished. "Nothing, My dear Montmorency. The commoner is merely attempting to tarnish my good name." He leaned in close, taking the blond girl, Montmorency, by the hand and gazing deep into her eyes. "After all. I…"

"Cannot tell lies in front of your eyes?" Dante mockingly supplied for Guiche with matching puppy-dog eyes to boot, causing him to flinch.

To add salt to the wounds, he turned to the blond girl who looked confused. "Yeah, he used that line on that girl from last night. I believe her name was Katie."

Now the girl was looking far less confused and far more upset. The hand not holding the frog began to clench and her eyes were definitely narrow as she turned back to the stuttering Guiche.

"Lies, all lies," Guiche proclaimed, holding that rose to his face while looking aggrieved at the injustice of facing such base accusations.

"Why would I need another when I already have one whose beauty dwarfs even that of the morning star?" he proclaimed, just like some cheesy Shakespearian actor.

Amazingly, it worked in calming the girl down.

'Looks like she was susceptible to flattery.' Dante mused,

Naturally, Dante in his jerk-ass mode can't let this fire blow out just yet. He was having way too much fun picking on the little brat. And luckily, a whole bucket of gasoline was walking over behind this fop's unsuspecting back.

"Well, maybe I made a mistake," He feigned, and despite the fact that boy was probably still pissed at the man who started this whole situation, Guiche shot him a grateful look.

"We can ask that other girl herself. And hey! Look over there! She's coming this way now," He pointed dramatically, and smirked at the way Guiche turned sheet white.

"Coincidence? I think not." Dante stated simply, hammering in the final nail to Guiche's coffin.

"WHAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT!" the blond screeched, hitting a fair number of octaves.

'And here's where I make the exit.' The devil hunter bowed theatrically grinning widely, as he casually backed away far enough not to get caught up in the explosion that was about to happen. Right when the fireworks were about to start he caught sight of Siesta hurrying back with the tray of tea, looking worried by the commotion that had started in her absence. She saw Dante looking relaxed amongst the other students who had gathered to watch spectacle, and hurried over to Dante.

"What happened?" she asked breathlessly, distraught by the disruption to the calm tranquillity she had left behind.

"The dude was caught two timing the two girls, and now he's trying to keep himself from getting his ass whipped," he reported, and reach down to the table at beside him, picking up a discarded tea cup, filled it with the pot Siesta had arrived with, and turned back just in time to witness Guiche getting his eye blackened and both girls marching away in righteous fury.

He calmly takes a sip of the tea.

" Personally I prefer beer, but at least these nobles have good taste in their tea."

He wondered if he'll ever be reunited with his beloved hop's beverage.

As the crowd laughed at his misfortune, Guiche pulled himself off the ground and attempted to find some way to salvage his pride. His eyes settled on the cause of it all, who raised his teacup to him, grinning mockingly.

"It appears that you are unaware of the etiquette whilst speaking with nobles," he accused the crimson clad man.

The worry Siesta was displaying rose up a few notches. It s common knowledge that stuff never bodes well for commoners when a noble speaks to them like that. But then again, this is Dante, the Rebel Sparda's spawn.

Dante replies gracefully. "Oh, I knew them alright. I just choose not to practice them. Especially to twits like you." The flippant answer causes the blonds eyes to narrow in impotent rage.

"Then perhaps a duel will help you understand the importance of displaying the appropriate respect when dealing with your betters?" he proclaimed, pointing his rose dramatically towards the devil hunter.

Very casually he tilted his head to one side and began to dig into his ear with his pinky. The strange gesture seemed to confuse the posing blonde. Finally he pulled the finger from the ear, and then met his eyes directly.

"I seemed to have had something stuck in my ear. Could you please say that again?"

"A duel," he again proclaimed. "I can never forgive one who made two ladies cry."

"Look in the mirror, chum."

It got the crowd laughing.

"If you really insist on a duel, you got it." Dante sighed,

The crowd gasps falls silent.

'Damn, I never thought those scenes from the cheesy period movies could happen in real life.' He mused

"When and where?"

"I shall be waiting for you on the grounds in front of the vestry," Guiche proclaimed and whirled away, all dramatic cape and wounded pride.

'Some pimp you are.' Dante thought,

Siesta seemed beside herself in fear. "Mm-M'seiu D-Dante! What are you doing?" she demanded, her worry causing her voice to be shrill.

"Dante!" another voice interrupted, and both Dante and the maid turned their heads towards the source of the voice. Thundering toward them was four and a half feet of pink haired feminine fury. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded in a worried tone. "Come on!" she grabbed his sleeve and started to drag the confused Dante away, after giving a quick farewell wave to Siesta, who was now on the verge of tears and clutching the silver plate to her chest like a stuffed toy.

"Where are we going again, Louise?" he asked her as she pulled him along.

"To Guiche, ofcourse. If we could just get him to simmer down and ask for your apology...!" she declared really scared of the implications. Then she suddenly found Dante as immovable as a mountain.

"I refuse to honor that request, Louise," Dante tells her in a serious manner.

"What? Don't you understand that you might get him killed?" she demanded, now looking more worried than mad.

"Louise, are you overly fond of this Guiche guy by any chance?"

"What?" she asked surprised by the sudden question, before getting a look on her face usually reserved for someone who just sucked a lemon, "No. He's just an annoying skirt chaser."

Dante studied her silently for a moment, before speaking. "Good. I was worried that it would cause you some grief at what I'm planning to do. I'll just rough him up a bit, nothing major. Just hope he won't die as I do."

"Stop that!" she demanded, nearly pulling her hair out from frustration. "Just why do you insist on continuing with the duel?"

"If you wish to find out just who you summoned. Just stand and watch. And besides, its time I get to show off." Dante grinned ferally, and turned to march to the court where Guiche was no doubt waiting, posturing all the while.

The Vestry Court was the central garden situated between the Wind and Fire elemental towers. Being located to the west, the Court didn't receive much sunshine, even in the middle of the day, but it was the perfect place for a duel.

Right now... the place was packed with people who had heard the rumors.

"Gentlemen! It's a duel!"

Guiche lifted his artificial rose high, eliciting a loud cheer from the crowd.

"Guiche is going to duel! His opponent is Louise's commoner!"

Dante cocked an eyebrow at the statement, but remained silent.

Waving his arms about, Guiche acknowledged the cheering.

And then, as if finally noticing Dante's presence there, he turned to face him.

"I'm surprised you didn't run away," the Don Juan-nnabe said straight to his face. The crowd around us tittered in amusement.

"Could we just get over with this already?" Dante said, mockingly stifling a yawn. "Need to catch up with my Z's."

"Hmph," Guiche said, and shrugged exaggeratedly, disregarding the taunt. "So eager to die already?" he asked the bored-looking devil hunter in a way that would make Shakespeare proud . "Who am I to deny your request, commoner."

The crowd was eating his act up.

For all his smiling and posturing, Dante responded only with a yawn.

As he finally got around to doing something actually meant for battle, Dante takes note of the crowd on the scene, and sees Siesta, who is covering her mouth with both hands and looking so scared that she might become ill.

Louise is with her as well, who looked resigned to not being able to stop what was about to happen. She might have tried to make more of an effort to stop it, but his casual declaration of my opponents possible demise, combined with the earlier agreement and the possible circumstances regarding Dante's summoning was different from most seemed to have made her curious as to what was about to happen. Even Kirche and Tabitha are present. Though there was something different about Tabitha this time.

She wasn't holding a book. Instead she had locked her eyes on him with a stare so intense it almost was palpable.

Only she had any inkling that something more than a cruel curb-stomping of a rebellious commoner could happen.

"My name is Guiche the Bronze. And my bronze Golem, Valkyrie, shall be your opponent," he declared and from the place where a rose petal had fallen sprouted a tall suit of feminine armor.

'Just as expected of him, being rather girly and all, I'm gonna enjoy making this one scream like a little girl.' Dante grinned at the thought.

A golem huh? And created so easily as well, by a high-school kid. Interesting.

The devil hunter had no idea what the capabilities of the magical nobles of this world are, so to Dante, this battle was more than just him trying to kill boredom. It's a chance to get an exercise as well.

When the golem came at Dante, fist extended aimed to deliver a painful blow to the face. There was a resounding clang as the metal made contact. Dante simply stood there, and took the hit without flinching.

"What?" the surprised nobleman said, completely shocked that Dante had managed to withstand what must have been several hundred pounds of metal as if it was nothing.

"Um, was that it?" Dante asked as he scratched the back of his head in confusion.

"Hey 'noble', could you do me a favor and just hit me with everything you got, otherwise, I'll end up growing roots here." Dante called out to the now shaken Guiche.

Dante slapped off the fist the that the golem laid on his face, and elegantly leaped back in a reverse somersault a few meters away, after which he smirked and gave the fop a 'come hither' gesture Bruce Lee style.

"I-I-Impossible!" he declared as white as a sheet as he stared at the move. "You're just a commoner!"

It seemed as though the shock of Dante being resilient had made him forget about the conditions of the duel, snapped and casts his rose wand, summoning a dozen more of the bronze female armors, now bearing large swords and shields, from the petals.

"Now we're talking." Dante crowed as the Bronze Golems surrounded the devil hunter

"Make him suffer." Guiche growled, as the golems raised their arms to strike Dante.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Siesta screamed as the constructs simultaneously stabbed the apparently helpless man...

Only to hit empty air.

A clapping sound emanates from behind Guiche, who whirled around, to see Dante sarcastically clapping his hands in applause.

"Good form kid, I like the motif, and as a reward, let me give you a lesson on how to be the best ladies' man." Dante stated as a bright red light surrounded him, causing Guiche and the rest of the people present cover their eyes.

When the light faded, they beheld Dante wearing something on his back like a backpack, shaped like a streamlined skull with large glowing eyes that stared in red fury, with metallic projections protruding from its forehead, giving Dante a semblance of folded wings. Meet Lucifer, the rose-themed devil arm.

(Maestro the music) *insert Flamenco music intro here.

"So, without further ado," Dante began, crouching low as Guiche manifests more golems and motions his constructs to attack.

Dante suddenly launches himself up into the air in an impossible height, with the bronze golems leaping in pursuit.

"First, I whip it out," Dante declaimed, as Lucifer's bone-like metal wing spreads out, revealing numerous red colored, long, throwing swords, causing Guiche and the rest to gape at the sight. Dante's retaliation has just begun.

"Then thrust it, with great force. " Dante grunted hotly as he began his attack by ceaselessly drawing out the Lucifer's throwing swords, and throwing them at the twelve bronze golems at nearly the same instant, impaling them in midair, executing it with such grace that he seemed like performing an aerial ballet, with his long coat trailing behind smoothly through the air.

"Every angle, it penetrates." As he impaled the last eleven more golems at close range, while still remaining on air. "Until," Dante spun one throwing swords "With great strength," He gracefully throws it to the last golem while stating, "I ram it in." as seconds later the sword pierces the construct right in the nether region. All the while, as topping the entire cake with the huge storm of rose petals that danced in the air along with Dante in a dreamlike scene.

The implications of his statement is does not escape the notice of the girls who are watching, giving sighs and looks of longing towards the currently playing...er...fighting Dante as he gave his opponents stabs, they react as if they are actually feeling the force, not in a bad way rest be assured.

"And in the end, we're all satisfied," Dante said, who appeared to be biting on a rose flower, landed right in front of the flabbergasted Guiche,

As for his golems, they were all immobilized, in such a formation that it resembled a huge heart symbol. Dante then claps his hands sharply three times, signalling for the ethereal swords to explode spectacularly clockwise. And one in the middle exploded last, creating the heart break effect.

"You're set free." Dante ends the poem like statement by throwing the rose which suddenly appeared out of nowhere towards the group of girls currently watching the spectacle, cheering wildly and began a rumble to claim the said flower, with some of them fainting in bliss at the debonair devil hunter's gesture.

"And that's how it's done." Dante grins calmly, posing towards his opponent like a teacher lecturing a pupil, with said boy gaping like a goldfish, realizing how huge the power gap is between them. Guiche hoped that it'll be over soon.

Unfortunately for him, Dante isn't done yet, walking closer towards the boy, who in stupid desperation conjured an elegant rapier and rushed towards Dante, who promptly draws a black, highly customized .45 cal colt Government, Ebony, and shoots the sword out of the boy's hand.

Guiche falls on his butt. And before he knew what happened, without looking at his target, Dante presses the strange black pistol into his forehead, causing him to enter a panic attack, "Yield! I Yield" he screamed, as he felt something warm and wet forming in his pants.

But the gun pressed on his head never left.

Dead silence rang through the courtyard. They had come expecting a spectacle, and little else. Nobody except two people really believed that anyone would die in this duel. All they expect is, they'd get to exercise their rights as nobles to watch another noble smack around a commoner for a bit, maybe seriously injure him, and then they could all go for crumpets and tea while the victim lay broken and bleeding on the ground behind them.

Instead Dante had shown them an even better show. Too bad, seems like somebody's about to die.

Or so it seems.

It lingered in the air, that pressure, Dante had shown them a beautiful, yet destructive violence though most likely they are being entertained by the flashiness of it all, just as Dante intended. But then again its time to show this kids that death and pain is the only certain end that waits all who carry weapons and wields them against their fellow man.

Many of the students were gaping now. Many more were white. A few were crying. All were shocked at the turn of events. Even Tabitha, who had no doubt expected something unexpected to happen, had not expected this. Her eyes were widened as well, noticeable through her thin glasses, though that was the only change in her expression.

"I already said yield, why.."

"Is it that I'm still pointing this thing at your head?" Dante deadpanned, "Surely you have heard of the saying along the lines, if you can wilfully kill, then prepare to be killed.", as he pressed the hammer back ready to fire…

"Wait,"

"Hm?" Dante turned to face the source of the voice, It was Louise.

She has tears flowing from her eyes. Dante suddenly realized he must have been playing way too hard.

"Just a few more minutes, and I'm done." Dante assured the distraught girl.

Sighing, Dante fished the coin from his pocket and showed the Trish side of the coin to Guiche,

"Shall we have a bet? If this comes on this side," Dante began, indicating the woman's image on the coin, "You win your life back, and if not, say your prayers."

Dante then pauses at the moment. Taking in the stares that the scene he made

'Yeah, they're watching, alright.'

"Oh yeah before you learn your fate, should you win your life back…do treasure it." Dante sincerely smiled.

Before the boy could answer, Dante has already flicked the coin up and caught it, all with his free hand…

(O.O)

When Louise went to sleep that night, she was equally parts exhausted, exalted, and embarrassed.

She had done it! Her summons wasn't a failure! She truly had found a familiar, no; she corrected herself, a guardian that was noble, charismatic and powerful!

Yes, her initial response and impression might have been less then favorable, which was the source of her embarrassment, but due to the very nature of the guardian, Dante, she was confident that the situation wasn't unsalvageable. It would take time, but eventually she would be able to prove to everyone, her peers, her teachers, and her family, that she wasn't a failure.

That she wasn't Louise the Zero!

Then, she dreamed.

She finds herself in a vast empty field, she sees her guardian, Dante, his head down with his back facing her, and she was unable to see his expression.

Dante then lifts his head up, and looked over the horizon. As if expecting something from that direction.

Then they appeared,

Scores and upon scores of horrific creatures of unspeakable appearances, with sizes ranging from, human sized to beyond titanic. Devils.

Then she heard the myriad of voices mixed with unearthly sounds. Voices calling out to….

"!"

Louise has never been so frightened in her life, as she beheld such creatures forms she never thought existed.

That and the pure terror that their mere presence inspired are beyond what Louise could handle, as she sank on her knees, and wait for the end of it. She then looks at the devil hunter.

Dante just smirks and simply said "Just bring it."

He draws from his under his long coat, two huge guns, one of which she saw him wielding, during the one sided duel with Guiche. And began firing in a manner that Louise had never seen a Dante did before, it was an impossible speed not even the best gunslinger she had seen before, could ever match.

The human sized creatures that are on route to kill him are obliterated in a flash, turning to dust as they did. The trend continued on until the only opponent left is a titanic mockery of a centaur. Having a bull's head and a body of a muscular man and connected to a body of a lion, it is wreathed in flames. Screaming an unearthly war cry, the creature rushed Dante, hoping to trample him as he did.

Dante, just turned his back on it, further enraging the beast for the insult.

Then in a flash, the devil hunter turns around and slashed with his sword, he called Rebellion. The move sent a crimson shockwave, similar to Louise's mother's windblade spell, only a whole lot larger, when she meant large, she meant it was the size of the Academy's tallest tower.

The attack smoothly rent the devil apart as a hot knife through butter, and the devil bursts into flames as it screamed in agony.

"Devils Never Cry." Dante said as he aimed the large pistol to the dying devil's head.

"And as for the rest of you out there," Dante declared in a voice much louder than she had ever heard him, full of anger and hate.

It was as if Dante knew the rest of that world would be able to hear him.

"I'm coming." He ended, punctuating the statement by shooting the creature on the head, silencing it perhaps for eternity.

As Louise looked on, she realized that she seems to be looking into the memories of Dante way before she summoned him.

The scene turns white as Louise finally slept in peace for the entire night.

(O.-)

The next Day….

As Louise and Dante, had tea on the school fields, being tended by Siesta, who made it her duty to provide the best service for the two, most especially to Dante, who now holds the status of the most delectable man in campus, familiar status be damned.

Currently, they as facing a situation.

"How did this end up this way?" Louise asked to no one in particular. Dante just facepalms himself.

Guiche, who looked like a mummy, is now kneeling in front of the two.

"Please be my Master, M'sieu Dante. Teach me the things I need to be a real man amongst men." Guiche begged, on his hands and knees in front of Dante and Louise

Dante then made a bet through coin toss, with the conditions that is Guiche wins, the boy becomes his apprentice, if he loses, he will never bother Dante again.

Dante lost, again.

"Are you sure of this Dante?" Louise asked,

Dante just shrugged. "Well he won fair and square. Besides, I need something to amuse me at the moment. So, why not?"

Dante turns to the begging boy "Do what you want."

This gave Guiche, such a joy that he cried.

"I promise, I will treasure every lesson you will teach me, Master Dante." As the boy rushes to give the devil hunter a hug… only to have Dante's boot planted to his face.

" Lesson two : NO. HUGGING. OF FELLOW MAN."

Siesta and Louise, laughed heartily at the antics of the two.

Louise then, realizes that for the first time, she actually felt that she belonged to this school.

And that she's lucky to have Dante as her famil… er…guardian.

And thus, Dante earns an apprentice, whether he liked it or not.

(o.O)

Author's P.S.

I'll follow the plot of the ZNT at the moment…then some crazy developments. and maybe more innuendoes... anyone want a lime or lemon?

and chapter/s later... a surprise...

reading between the lines could give hints of something...

as for a ripoff part, some things here might be familiar to avid readers of famous fanfics. this is my way of honoring those guys that inspired me. Have fun knowing what those fics are...they're too glaringly obvious... : )

as to posting with regards to originality, read between the lines pal... I put this together just for the fun of it...If you have fun reading its an honor. then if you aren't either leave this area, or write a better one original one. I got tired waiting for someone to post this pair in a story like this.

And just so you guys know if you didn't get it the first time: I don't like taking credits,

I WILL ALWAYS, ALWAYS prefer cash. : )


	5. Mission 5 Discovery and Tempting a Devil

Noted: Neither the Familiar of Zero nor Devil May Cry belong to me.

If you're wondering why this Dante is a lot nicer to Louise than necessary,

Allow me to explain in a few words:

After Dante's experience in Hell's brutality and horrors, I believe it just reinforces his heart to be a lot nicer, more so to the poor downtrodden people such as Louise and the commoners.

Hopefully I might be able to show how the relationship web evolves properly. Wish me luck.

Spoilers: If you have read earlier chapters, you might have seen this one coming.

Screw this, I'm breakin' free, somewhat : )

Roaring it out, all for the future

Lets begin…

O.O

Mission 5 : Discovery and Tempting a Devil

(-.O)

Chapter page Fantasy pic : Louise aims the Kalina Ann at you! (O.o)

It's the Day of the void, and no classes were held

Louise is currently sitting at her study table as she writes a letter to her family…

The only trouble is, where will she start to explain?

Yes she did manage to summon a familiar. But it was so unlike the norms to the point that Louise would continue to wonder whether she did something wrong with the ritual.

She considered the situation somewhat wrong in many ways.

First of all, the being summoned, Dante is a human, which is which is unheard of in the history of Halkeginia,

Secondly, she couldn't control the man; hence he does whatever he wants to. He's way too scary to be ordered around. And that gave Louise a sense of impotence. Who ever heard of a magician who couldn't control their familiar? And was actually scared of them? At least, he's quite a reasonable man, though his quirks are rather strange at best, or is it because he is playing around with her?

Thirdly, Dante proved himself to be powerful beyond her expectation, this somewhat proved that Louise has potential. According to her professor, M'sieu Colbert, the ceremony is said to summon the best suited familiar to the summoned for the magician, hence it seems that Dante is the beast…er…best choice as much as whatever powers that controls the summons is concerned. Colbert also adds that the ritual is also used to gauge the magical abilities of the magician to be, so that if Louise had summoned someone as strong as Dante, which could also mean Louise might be strong as well.

Though the way Colbert acted after explaining that part seems to convey that th middle-aged man seems to be hiding something, or just ran out of explanations and said the last part just to comfort the somewhat depressed young Valliere.

If she only knew.

* * *(o.o)****

Louise has just finished her letter, stating most of the events that occurred, of course, omitting the fact that she's still unable to;

- to have a semblance of real control to Dante.

- find her true affinity among the four known elements.

-(o.O)-

While Louise placed the letter into her envelope, the door opens, revealing Dante, who enters the room.

As if by reflex, Louise quickly wax seals the letter and hid it in her desk.

She will be sending it later.

(O.O)

Earlier…

Dante hasn't been lazy, well most of his time anyway. Upon seeing the way Louise casts the spells, he suspected that Louise's element could be something more other than the four elements mentioned.

And so, Dante, in detective mode; spent most of the time trying to read in the school's Fenrir library.

Sitting lazily with his feet propped on the table, he tried dozens and dozens of books. But finds no information regarding what element could be Louise's attuned to.

Early in his life, Dante never had a love for reading and research, and just preferred to learn stuff on the go. But through experience, it seemed a rather practical to at least get some prior knowledge before going to missions.

Hence nothing much surprised him when facing the most of the different devils in the underworld.

"Well what do you know? A breakthrough." Dante said as he read a certain old tome.

The tome, entitled the Book of Elements, stating the four different elements, their features and the spells usually associated with them.

It also includes the fifth element, The Void.

As the devil hunter read on, with the use of his father's spare monocle, a magical reader which enables the devil hunter to read foreign texts.

It seemed that this element is actually the element used by Halkeginia's founder, Brimir. It is the element of impossibility, in which the caster could very well be ably to control, manipulate higher forms of magic that will never be achieved by others bearing the other four elements. Mostly it involved blowing something up in one way or another.

It even stated that there are some of the spells cast with the element that are so strong that Brimir himself refused to use them unless it is absolutely necessary.

Unfortunately, the incantations to the spells under void are not stated in the book, but there are clues where they might be hidden.

Dante seeing no further information regarding said element, he closed the book to return it to the shelf. That particular shelf turned out to be the section which is forbidden to the general public to be read.

How the heck did he manages to enter and leave the locked chamber of the school is only for him to know.

He then spied something behind the book he had just read.

And how he smirked….

For what he saw is the symbol that he would recognize anywhere.

It was the symbol of Sparda.

"Even in this world huh?" Dante shook his head,

"You sure know how to always get around don't you, Dad."

(-.-)

Let us change locations for a moment and return a few days ago to the Headmaster's Office.

Colbert was fervently explaining everything to Master Osmond about the so called-commoner that was summoned by Louise at the Springtime Familiar Summoning... About how he was concerned about the runes that had appeared on the man's hand as proof of the contract between him and Louise... And that when he had gone to find out more...

"So, Dante has the runes of the Founder Brimir's familiar Windálfr?"

Osmond intently examined Colbert's sketch of the runes on Dante's right hand, then compared it with the book's illustration.

"Yes! The runes that appeared on M'sieu Dante's right hand are exactly the same as the runes that were inscribed on the legendary familiar Windálfr!"

"So, your conclusion?"

"That the man is the Windálfr! And there's another thing you should know…"

"And what else could it be?" Osmond asked,

"I think he's related to the legendary Dark Knight Sparda."

The statement caught the old man off guard.

Palpable silence covered the room.

Then the old man smirks.

"So you noticed it as well." Osmond narrowed his eyes at the long time employee.

Only a few people actually knew this particular piece of information, as most people merely regarded the figure of the Legendary Dark Knight as a fairytale. But the truth of the matter is he is ultimately the key factor why Brimir and his familiars, along with the rest of the Halkegenia's magical inhabitants, for the reclamation of Halkegenia's freedom, won the battles against the enemy. The stories of the different battles, the events and the final demise of their quest have so many versions that it seems that the truth of the matter is lost forever.

But not to the select few, battle mages and some civilians who accompanied the original group. Which in turn the true stories of their exploits are told to their descendants, making them swear on their lives to keep, protect and honor the names of that fellowship of men, who freed the world from the darkness.

They called themselves The Swords of Halkeginia. Both Colbert and Osmond are members of this organization.

Then something happened on how the original tale was told, such who or what the actual enemy is, until in the end, the antagonists that are presented in the recent Founder Brimir's tales, in their quest to save the Halkeginia and the holy land, are the elves.

It didn't escape the eyes of Old Osmond that the man Dante, whom Louise summoned by chance, exudes the similar air of the Dark Knight, albeit a bit more loose, but still. Osmond is so very sure of that.

Why?

Because he was there, when it all happened.

Then Osmond felt really old.

"If this isn't big news, then what is, Old Osmond?" Colbert excitedly said

Colbert stood up as he wiped his balding head with a handkerchief.

"Hrm... Certainly, the runes are the same. But for someone that seemed so similar the Sparda to become Windálfr... I wonder how that could've happened."

"What shall we do?"

"However, it is probably too early to be making definite claims."

"That's true."

Master Osmond drummed his fingers on the desk.

"Hmm, maybe…"

Old Osmond waved his staff and a big mirror set in the wall began scrying the situation which happened at Vestri Courts a few days earlier.

(please see chapter 4 for the duel)

(-.-)

Master Osmond and Colbert finished watching the entire event via the Mirror of Far-Seeing. They exchanged another look.

"Old Osmond."

"Hrm."

"I believe we are seeing legends in the making..."

"Hrm."

"Guiche is only a first level Dot mage, but even so, he shouldn't have been beaten by an average commoner. What amazing skill in dominating a fight! I've never seen a commoner fight like him before!"

"Hrmm..." Osmond stifled a knowing grin.

M'sieu Colbert urged Osmond.

"Old Osmond. We should report this to the palace immediately and ask for instructions..."

"There will be no need for that."

Old Osmond nodded sternly, ruffling his white beard.

"But sir! This is the biggest discovery of the century! The legendary Dark Knight reborn in the modern world!"

Some modern world this is.

"M'sieu Colbert. Windálfr was no ordinary familiar as well."

"Exactly! The familiar used by the Founder Brimir, Windálfr! There was never any description of its appearance, but it's said to have been created specifically for the purpose of attacking the enemies and support allies while Founder Brimir makes his spell incantations."

"Correct. Founder Brimir's incantations were especially long... However, that made his spells very powerful. And as you know, mages are most vulnerable while spell casting. Winndálfr was the familiar that he used to attack enemies in those times of vulnerability. Its strength..."

Colbert eagerly cut in at this point, looking extremely excited.

"And Sparda is said to be able to annihilate an army of hundred thousand all by himself! Ordinary mages were said to be no match for him!"

"So, M'sieu Colbert."

"Yes?"

"That man, he really is just an average commoner, right?" Osmond eyed the long time employee.

"Yes. No matter how I looked, he was just an average commoner. But when I tried a Detect Magic spell after M'selle Vallière initially summoned him something made it malfunction, but over all, by looks alone he could pass as a genuine average commoner."

"And who was it that turned him into a modern Windálfr?"

"That would be M'selle Vallière, but..."

"She must be a very talented mage, I take it?"

"Not at all. Rather, one might say she's un-talented..."

"A puzzling duo to be sure."

"Yes."

"So how did someone like M'sieu Dante contracted by an untalented mage to become Windálfr? What an utter paradox. I just can't see where the ends meet."

"Indeed..."

"In any case, there is no need for us to hand over M'sieu Dante and M'selle Valliere to those fools at the palace. Give them a toy like this and they'll just cause another unnecessary war. Court advisors have too much free time on their hands and like fighting far too much."

"O-oh, I see. I apologize for overlooking such important matters."

"I will take responsibility of this case myself. You will not speak of this to anyone else, Mister Colbert."

"Y-yes! I understand!"

Old Osmond took hold of his staff and turned to look out the window. He immersed his thoughts in the far reaches of history.

"For someone like the legendary dark knight turned Windálfr by a girl... Just what kind of form had he taken before, I cannot help but wonder."

Colbert murmured as if dreaming.

"Windálfr was said to be able to tame and use magical creatures to take down its enemies..."

"Hrm."

"So it must have at least be something human-like, I think."

(o.O)

We return to the present as we find Dante and Louise discussing something over a cup of beer and tea.

"So you're saying that I don't have an affinity to any of the four elements?" Louise asked, looking crestfallen at the report her magical partner said.

"Nope,"

Well there has been a couple of rare cases in which a Noble was born with no affinity to magic at all. Those family members are either cast off from the family to live ordinary plebeian lives or kept the condition secret to protect the family honor.

If ever her condition be similar, at least the family manages to stifle the damage, making an arranged marriage with the ever growing popular Viscount Wardes, a family acquaintance, and her mother's one time student.

But she in regards to being untalented in magic, did summon a familiar…of sorts so, there is still some hope… right?

"If you're currently thinking that there's no hope in you," Dante states, causing Louise to look up from her teacup and to the devil hunter.

"I have news for you, I found out what your element is."

"What?"

"It's the Void."

Louise eyes went blank.

"What?"

"That's the reason why everything explodes whenever you try to cast spells. The element you're trying to channel doesn't match with you're true natural affinity. And the only possible element would be the Void." Dante explained to the pinkette, taking a swig of beer from his mug, he will have to explain the finer details later, if his gambit would prove successful.

Ah, Beer never tasted so good before, since he hasn't had one in years or more.

He was certainly glad to have managed to befriend the rest of the non-noble staff, especially after that infamous duel with Guiche. With them calling him as "Heart Breaker" after seeing that spectacular fireworks resulting from Dante's move. With Dante being considered as a commoner and such, he was hailed as a hero among the lower class.

Thus, he had his dramatic reunion with one of his favourite beverage.

"Since now you know, how about giving it a try?" Dante suggested, seeing Louise so excited in a while.

Louise was definitely excited, but has apprehensions as well, seeing that the this could be very well her last shot at becoming a magician

"Alright, here goes." She finally stated, taking out her wand.

Concentrating her will, recognizing what her element, Void as her true power, she begins to speak a certain spell,

"Float!" She finally end the spell, pointing the wand towards the teacup, half expecting an explosion.

Then, a miracle happened,

The cup actually floated by itself,

and goes to her waiting hand.

Silence which you could cut with a knife covered the room, before a yell broke it.

"I DID IT, I DID IT, I DID IT, I DID IT, I DID IT, I DID IT, I DID IT!" She yells out of joy, now definitely sure that she isn't a zero,

Louise happily jumps around, as the devil hunter smirked at the turn of events.

'Now that that problem is solved, I think I'll be able to concentrate investigating on what the heck dad was doing in this world before. But I suppose I could wait a little more.' Dante thought, grinned as Louise jumps up and down her huge bed, making her look like a 2 year old.

Later….

As the two wandered along the Castle corridors, Dante saw some students, along with their familiars try to do some tricks.

"Okay, just what are they trying to do?" Dante asked, as he saw Montmorency apparently practicing, singing a song.

With her frog as a back up.

'Well, that makes one weird musical duo if you ask me.' Dante thought,

'At least she's doing better than Guiche, who just plans to pose around with his overly large and cute mole.'

"It's the annual presentation of familiars to the royals. And the Princess was announced to be attending as well." Louise finally answered, feeling much more confident.

"Oho?" Dante gravely thought. "So its like a show where familiars show tricks and such to impress, is that right?"

"Y-yeah, that's correct."

Louise knew of the coming event but haven't got the guts to tell the snow-haired man that. Besides the fact that he hates to be regarded as someone's property, even moreso as an animal. And finally, she knew how much Dante hated to be ordered to do something against his will, not to mention she doesn't come across as a guy who can do a proper show in the least, not unless it's a demonstration on how deadly her guardian is and that is not the kind of impression Louise wants for her guardian to have..

Well, he is skilled with that purple musical instrument of sorts, which he used to wake her up during mornings. Though she wonders if that racket he makes could be considered as music.

Looking towards Dante, who is now in a thinking pose.

Then he turns to Louise, looks at her with his icy blue eyes and grinned.

"So, where do we sign in?"

"EEEEEHHHHHHH!" Louise gapes in shock.

"I believe we could spice up the show with better stuff other than singing frogs and posing moles right?"

"Uh, right." Was all the diminutive mage could say, knowing Dante in such a short while, is capable of doing almost anything. She couldn't wait for it as well.

Not escaping Dante's observing eyes; a red shadow could be seen slinking amongst the bushes.

(O.O)

After learning of her magical affinity, she tried dozens upon dozens of spells, and finds them working just fine, unlike before.

She can't wait to see the looks on Kirche's faces, as well as the rest of the students that mocked her before.

Dante, just stood by and watched, apparently observing how the spells work and finally got the gist of how to use the same magic system to incorporate with his already huge repertoire of skills. That could be of some use later.

(o.O)

At the Headmaster's Office, M'selle Longueville the secretary was busily writing away at something.

She stopped writing for a moment and glanced over at the sequoia desk at which Master Osmond was busy taking a nap.

The corner of M'selle Longueville's lips rose in a faint smirk, an expression she had never shown anyone before.

She stood up from her desk.

In a low voice, she murmured the incantation for a Spell of Tranquility. Dampening her footsteps so as not to wake Osmond, she crept out of the office.

Her destination was the treasury, located on the floor directly below the Headmaster's Office.

Stepping off the stairs, she confronted enormous iron doors. They were kept shut with a thick bolt mechanism, which in turn was secured with an equally large padlock.

This place was where artifacts dating from even before the Academy's establishment were contained. After cautiously surveying her surroundings, Miss Longueville withdrew her wand from a pocket. It was about the length of a pencil, but with a flick of the wrist, it extended to the length of an conductor's baton, which she whirled expertly.

M'selle Longueville cast another spell.

Once the invocation was complete, she pointed the baton at the padlock.

However... nothing happened.

"Well, it's not like I really expected a Spell of Unbinding to work anyway."

Smiling deviously, she began reciting the words to one of her specialty spells.

It was a Transmutation spell. Chanting loud and clear, she waved her baton at the heavy lock. The magic cascaded over it... but even after a considerable wait, there was no visible change.

"Looks like it's been magically reinforced by a Square-class mage," she muttered.

A Spell of Reinforcement was one that prevented the oxidation and decomposition of matter. Any substance that had this spell cast on it was protected from any chemical reactions, and allowed it to be preserved forever in that state. Even transmutation magic would have no effect against something protected like this. Only if one's magical skill surpassed that of the mage who cast the spell could it be overcome.

As it was, the mage who had enchanted this door was apparently an extremely powerful mage, considering that not even M'selle Longueville, an expert in Earth magic and transmutation in particular, was able to affect the door.

Taking off her glasses, she stared at the door once more. At this point, she heard footsteps coming up the staircase.

She shrunk down her baton and slipped it back into her pocket.

The person who appeared was Colbert.

"Greetings, M'selle Longueville. What are you doing here?"

"M'sieu Colbert, I was going to catalog the contents of the treasury, but..."

"Oh, that's quite some work. It'd probably take you all day to go over each and every item. There's a lot of junk mixed together with them, and it's a rather cramped space they've been arranged in too."

"Indeed."

"Why don't you just borrow the key from Old Osmond?"

The woman smiled.

"Well... I didn't want to disturb his sleep. In any case, I'm in no immediate hurry to complete the catalog..."

"I see. Sleep, you say. That old man, I mean, Old Osmond, is quite a deep sleeper. It seems I shall have to visit him another time."

M'sieu Colbert began to walk off, but paused in his tracks, and turned around.

"Err... M'selle Longueville?"

"Is something the matter?"

Colbert looked slightly embarrassed as he opened his mouth to speak.

"If it would be all right, how would you like to, say... join me for lunch?"

She took a moment to consider, then smiled brightly as she accepted the offer.

"Sure, it would be my pleasure."

The two of them headed down the stairs.

"Hey, M'sieu Colbert."

In slightly informal tones, M'selle Longueville struck up conversation again.

"Y-yes? What is it?"

Emboldened by how easily his invitation had been taken up, Colbert responded quite eagerly to her.

"Is anything important actually inside the treasury?"

"There is."

"Then, do you know of the 'Staff of Destruction'?"

"Ah, that is quite a curiously shaped item, indeed."

Her eyes glinted.

"What... kind of shape?"

"It's extremely difficult to describe, except as simply strange, yes. But never mind that, what would you like to eat? Today's menu is flounder baked in herbs... but I'm quite well-acquainted with Marteau the head chef, and I can have him make any of the world's finest delica-"

"Ahem."

M'selle Longueville interrupted Colbert's babbling.

"Y-yes?"

"I must say, the treasury is quite amazingly built. No matter what kind of magic is tried, it would be impossible to open, I assume?"

"That's quite right. It's impossible for just any one mage. After all, it was devised by a group of Square-class mages to resist all spells."

"I'm very impressed that you're so knowledgeable about this, M'sieu Colbert."

She regarded him with a comfortable expression.

"Eh? Well... Haha, I just happened to come across a lot of documents pertaining to this floor, that's all... I like to consider it a part of my research, haha. Thanks to that, I'm still single at this age... yes."

"I'm sure the woman that you find will be very happy to be with you. After all, you can teach her so much about things that nobody else knows..."

Longueville fixed him with a fascinated look.

"Oh, no! Please don't tease me like that!"

Colbert flustered nervously as he wiped sweat from his balding forehead. Then, regaining composure, he faced her seriously.

"M'selle Longueville. Have you heard of the Ball of Frigg that is being held on the day of Yule?"

"No, I haven't."

"Haha, I guess it's because you've only been in Tristain for two months. Well, it's nothing spectacular, just a party of sorts. However, it's said that a couple who dances at this ball will be destined to be together or something like that. It's just a petty legend of course! Yes!"

"So?"

Smiling, she pressed him to continue.

"So... if it would be all right, I was wondering if you would dance with me, yes."

"I would love to. While ball parties are fabulous, I'd like to know more about the treasury right now. I'm quite fascinated by magical items, you see."

Wanting to further impress M'selle Longueville, Colbert racked his brains. Treasury, treasury, she says...

Remembering something she might find interesting, he put on an important air and started to talk.

"Ah yes, there's one thing I can tell you. Although it's not particularly important..."

"By all means, do tell."

"Certainly, the treasury is invincible against magical attacks, but I believe it has one fatal weakness."

"Oh, that's intriguing."

"That weakness is... physical force."

"Physical force?"

"Yes! For example, well, not that this is ever likely, but a giant golem could-"

"A giant golem?"

Colbert stated his opinion quite proudly to M'selle Longueville. And once he was done talking, she couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.

"That was most intriguing indeed, Mister Colbert."

(-.-)*******

That Afternoon...

As Dante, only wearing his long leather pants and a towel, having just taken a much needed bath for the day, heads back to Louise's room. He passed by the usual corridor of numerous rooms.

And passed by a particular room…

The door to Kirche's room opened.

Her salamander Flame crawled out, with its burning tail emitting a warm glow. The two stared at each other. The salamander shuffled closer to Dante, who greeted the flaming reptile.

"Yo, how are you doing?"

"Kyurukyuru," it growled comfortingly. It looked harmless before it clamped its jaws on Dante's pants leg, shaking its head as if asking him to follow it.

"Hey, let go! You'll light my pants on fire!" said Dante to an insistent Flame, which only pulled harder.

Kirche's room remained open.

' Is it trying to drag me in there? Indeed it was. I don't think Flame is dragging me for the fun of it. What could Kirche possibly want from me?'

Dante brainstormed the reasons. Maybe she just wants to ask me something. Or maybe…

Dante stepped into Kirche's room.

The room was pitch dark, save for Flame's mild glow. Kirche's voice commanded from the darkness, "Close the door." Dante obliged.

"Welcome to my room."

"It's pretty dark in here."

He heard Kirche snap her fingers. Starting from the one nearest him, lamps lit up one by one towards Kirche like lights floating above a street.

Doused in the mild glow, Kirche sat on her bed, with a look of worry on her face. She was wearing attractive underwear, or rather, just plain underwear. One thing was for sure: supported only by her sexy bra, her full breasts were the size of cantaloupes.

'Yup, I was kinda expecting that.' Dante cocked an eyebrow. As he crossed his arms.

"Don't just stand there. Come to me." Kirche cooed with her most captivating voice.

Dante did just that.

Dante sat by her side as he was told. His eyes were appreciating Kirche's nearly nude body.

'Not bad.' Dante commented to himself.

"Anything you wish me to do?" Dante then asked, the man that he is.

Kirche merely stared at him while slowly waving her fiery red hair. Under the faint lamp light, Kirche's brown skin looked wildly erotic, as if trying to capture Dante to do her bidding.

As if that would would work,

Much.

Kirche made a long sigh, and worriedly shook her head.

"You must think me a lowly, despicable woman."

"Kirche?"

"To be thought so is inevitable. Do you understand? My runic name is 'Ardent'."

"So I heard."

That cleavage in her bra's gaps is so sexy...

Dante just had enough willpower to keep himself from directly ravaging this supple woman's body.

"My lust is as flammable as hay... that's why I suddenly called you here. Don't you get it? Isn't this really bad of me?"

"That is indeed very bad." Dante seemed unsure and just played along, as he gestured at her which means along the lines of 'Naughty, naughty'.

"But... I'm sure you'll forgive me."

Kirche looked at Dante with moist, watery eyes. Any man would show his most primitive instincts after looking at these eyes.

"Forgive what?" He asked continuing to play along, seeing that this also gave the rush of excitement to the Germanian girl.

Kirche suddenly clasped the devil hunters hand hand, enveloping them with her warm palms before slowly caressing through every finger, sending sparks through his spine. After all, a man is a man, half-breed or not.

"Loving you, my dear. To you, my love is that sudden."

'Yeah, that's sudden all right!' Dante sarcastically thought.

But then again she must be playing Dante. But then again, he'll just have to play too.

Sexy beast-mode engaged.

Despite that thought, Kirche's face looked serious.

"Your flair and grandeur in defeating Guiche is... just... so cool...and fiery at the same time. Like a hero of the legends." As she said this she was already expending her hand, running her fingers through the then naked, finely sculpted upper body of the devil hunter.

" I... when I saw you right that moment I was in love. Can you believe it? I was attracted to you just like that! Passion! Oh, this is a passionate love!"

'I think many girls came that day as well' he thought.

"Passion, huh? " Dante just looked deeply into her eyes, he could almost see the lust burning within.

Not that he minded the Lust part.

Oh no, no, no, not at all.

"My runic name, 'Ardent', is quite passionate too. I've been writing love songs since that day! Love songs! Just for you... Oh, Dante. You appear in my dreams every night, so I told Flame to see how you're doing... oh, I'm so embarrassed. You must think that too, am I right? But it's all because of you!"

Dante just cocked his eyebrow at the statement.

Kirche took his silence as acceptance, and slowly, with closed eyes, approached Dante with her lips.

'He's so sexy.' Kirche lustily thought

Dante on the other hand, might be...

Comparing her to Louise, who is attractive in her own way.

But when it comes to sexiness, she is no match for Kirche.

Kirche took his silence as acceptance, and slowly, with closed eyes, approached the half-devil with her lips.

Then the inevitable encounter happened, and as their lips touched Kirche, felt an unbelievable feeling of absolute bliss, causing her to sigh in ecstasy. With it she felt her flames of passion ignite all the more.

The kiss went from a light one, to the point that Kirche wants to devour and claim his lips, as well as the passionate swordplay with their tongues. This act caused Kirche to pull the devil hunter's body closer to her, to feel his warmth, his passion and maybe something more. She felt another release as the Dante gently caresses her body, and at the same time played with her extended tongue by slowly sucking it.

She heaves another long and lusty sigh as the waves of passion opened up within her.

He's good. No, he's beyond good. No man before has ever managed to make her reach this level of rapture. No one.

But she's not letting him know that, yet, and thus….

She runs her eager hands through out the devil hunter's upper body, from his fine, snow-white hair, to the nicely toned abs.

Dante just smirked inwardly as he felt how Kirche's body wriggle with the pleasure he was giving her.

"Wait till we get to the next stage."

If this feeling was obtained with just a kiss, what ever would happen if they went all the way?

Dante pushed Kirche's down on the bed, eliciting a sigh from the girl, probably ready to be ravished by the handsome devil.

Unknowingly, she is half-right.

But then Dante stops.

Kirche looked at Dante with surprise, as if asking "Why?". He looked away from her body.

"From what you said earlier..."

"Hmm?"

"You... fall in love rather too easily." Dante states, hitting Kirche's weak point. Her face turned red in an instant.

"Yeah... I guess I have more... passion than others. That can't be helped. Love is sudden, and it burns my body so quickly..."

'I think I get the idea.' Dante thought keeping a straight face.

At that moment, a voice from outside the window interrupted her.

A beautiful playboy looked inside indignantly.

"Kirche... I came to check because you weren't there on time..."

"Berisson! We'll meet two hours later then!" she said

"That wasn't what we agreed on!" They were on the third floor. It looks like this Berisson guy is floating on air with some magic spell.

Kirche nonchalantly took out her wand from between her breasts, and waved it without even looking at him. Flame shot out from a nearby lamp and flew into the gentleman at the window like a snake.

"What an annoying owl."

Dante was right on not finishing. But at least the girl got off, twice and that's all that matters, for the moment.

"Uh... you didn't hear all that, did you?"

"Who was that?" Dante blankly asked

"Just a friend. Whatever... right now, my deepest, most passionate love is you, Dante..."

Kirche approached him with her lips again. Dante did not move a muscle, as he knows that this was not meant to be… as of today.

At that moment, they were interrupted again.

A sharp-looking man peered into the room with a sad face.

"Kirche! Who is that guy? Aren't you going to heat up the night with me?"

"Styx! Just go away, I'm busy at the moment."

"Who is that guy, Kirche?" he indicated the half naked Dante, obviously envious at his body's condition.

This Styx guy was getting mad, and as he was about to enter the room, Kirche waved her wand again. The fire flew from the lamp again, hit the man, and sent him to the ground.

"...I take that he's your friend too?" Dante deadpanned.

"Instead of 'friend', lets just say that I've only heard of him. Oh well, I don't want to waste our time. Whoever said 'the night is long' didn't know how quickly the sun rises."

Kirche drew near Dante again.

And again, a groan came from the window. Dante impatiently turned around with an exasperated sigh.

'Not another one.'

Three men looked inside, and said the same thing at the same time.

"Kirche! Who the hell is this? You said you don't have any lovers!"

"Manican! Ajax! Gimli!"

Oh wow... five completely different people showed up. Dante was impressed.

"Well... six hours later then," Kirche waved irritably.

"That's the morning!" the three said in unison.

"Flame." Kirche casually ordered her salamander, who was sleeping in the corner. Flame sent a blaze towards the three men at the window, and they fell to the ground together.

"And those are...?"

"Them? I don't even know them. But, most of all, I love you!"

Kirche held Dante's face with her hands and went straight for his lips.

"N...nhhhh..."

Dante relented. Kirche's kisses were full of passion. Dante did not resist her from pinning him to the bed.

At that moment...

This time it was the door. Somebody kicked it open.

Dante thought it was just another guy. He was dead wrong. Wearing her thin pajamas, Louise stood and stared at the two from the doorway.

Kirche mildly eyed Louise, and kept her lips locked with Dante's.

Louise murderously moved towards Dante and Kirche, knocking down a few lamps in the process. Louise's hands moved faster than her mouth. More impressively is that her legs moved faster than her hands.

Dante then remembers about the age old Valliere and Zerbst rivalry. Louise is very determined to protect the family honor, even if she had to face Dante's wrath later.

Looks like she's growing up fine…

"KIRCHE!" Louise howled towards Kirche's general direction. Kirche acted like she just noticed her presence, and slowly removed herself from Dante, while waving her hand indignantly.

"Can't you see that we're kind of busy here, Vallière?"

"Zerbst! Who do you think you're touching?"

Dante grinned. Looks like she's becoming more forward this time. Louise's brown eyes glimmered with fiery anger.

Kirche raised her hands above her head. Stuck between the two, Dante only shrugged.

It seemed that letting the whole situation develop into Kirche kissing him had made Louise extraordinarily angry, that she isn't scared of Dante anymore.

"Love and fire are the Zerbst family's destiny. It's a fate that burns in our bodies. It is our lifelong goal to embrace this passionate flame. You should know that." Kirche shrugged, while Louise shook in anger.

"Dante, lets leave that hussy." Louise stared at Dante.

"Oh? Louise... he is indeed your familiar, but he has his own will too, don't you think? Please respect his choice." Kirche said at the side.

"She's right! Who I hang out with is my business!" Dante added looking forward to see how Louise would react.

Louise raised her voice. "You... by tomorrow you'll be run through by magic from at least ten nobles! Is that all right with you?" she pointed at Dante.

In her anger, she failed to remember just how powerful Dante really is….

"Oh, no problem with that. Didn't you see how good he was in the Vestri Court ?"

Louise flapped her right hand. "Hmph... so his swordfighting skills are good, but that doesn't matter when he's attacked by fireballs from the back and whirlwinds from the front."

'Yup, It definitely slipped her mind' Dante thought.

"No problem! I'll protect him!" Kirche gave Dante a passionate look.

However, because of Louise's words, Dante analysed the situation.

'If those guys that just visited us at the window find out about me, maybe they would attack me. Kirche won't be able to cover me all the time, even if she said she would. That and Kirche changes her mind pretty often. She'll be bored of protecting me in no time.'

After some calm reasoning, Dante stood up.

"Aww...are you leaving so soon?" Kirche sadly peered at Dante, with her hair spread to her back, and her twinkling eyes seemed to painfully tear.

'Kirche is one addicting beauty... if a girl like her sticks to me, who cares if I get hit with magic left and right?' Dante thought

'Plus I get more exercise that way.' He grinned at the thought of duelling a group of young wizards and schooling them. Hard.

Jerk-ass style.

"That's her usual tactic! Don't be fooled by her." Louise tugged Dante's hand, and walked out.

That left the blushing Kirche alone, hugging to a pillow, and to the memory of that wild moment, when Dante the snow-haired Heartbreaker, sent her to unparalleled bliss, just by kisses no less.

She's now even more determined to steal the devil hunter from that girl, to lavish all for herself.

So henceforth she swore off other men other than Dante, will be allowed to have the exclusive right to her body and her heart.

Yeah, she will have sweeter dreams from now on.

(-.-)

A toned down chapter to say the least wouldn't you say?

Early revelation much?

Hope its good enough for a while… : )

Lime scene came from experience. : )

Yeah right. : )

As I say once again, I don't like taking credits, BUT ALWAYS PREFER CASH. : )


	6. Mission 6: A Thing of the Past

Sorry for the delay guys, I got reports to finish for the month. I do need an earning job you know.

Hence my quote, : ) 'Credit is good but I need cash.'

Been busy with my job as well as my job search, so there. : )

Roaring on towards the uncertain future,

zaberfang, GO!

Let's begin,

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Mission 6: A Thing of the Past.

Excerpts from the lost chronicle of Brimierre, the mage...

6000 years ago, The Dark Knight Sparda, appeared from the schism. Although himself a creature of darkness, he fought against his brethren. Along with founder Brimierre and the familiars of the Void, Sparda takes up his sword for the sake of Halkeginia's freedom...

Fantasy Cover Pic: Kirche posing in Gloria's Order of the Sword costume, looking at you seductively, with her right hand gliding on her bosom, and her left holds Gloria's signature double bladed dagger,

It was one moonlit night, on top of an ornate tower.

A battle rages.

A swordfight between Dante and a hooded blue-cloaked figure, none of the two gaining advantage. It seemed that their battle seemed to be more like a choreographed fight than a death match.

Dante attacked in blinding speed with Rebellion, but the cloaked figure kept deflecting them. But his efforts of landing a hit on the devil hunter is also thwarted by skilful parries and feints by the snow-haired man.

But the usual grinning countenance on the face of the devil hunter is absent.

His attacks are more fuelled by rage and a sense of urgency.

His attacks are becoming reckless.

As their fight continued on, the figure in blue suddenly gains the upper hand as he systematically disarms the devil hunter, starting with his beloved guns, and in a skilled stroke, Rebellion.

"Is this the best that a son of Sparda could do?" a distorted but somewhat familiar voice could be heard from the hooded figure.

Dante coughed up blood as he tries to speak.

No witty comebacks this time.

"A Pity." The hooded figure spoke.

Dante is suddenly assaulted by a blinding series of sword slashes from his opponent's blade, leaving him profusely bleeding in many places.

Yet, it appeared that the hooded figure never left where he stood.

His red coat in rags and seemingly unable to even stand upright, and his snow white hair is now tainted with his own blood, and is flapping madly in the wind, the Dante in front of Louise's eyes that moment doesn't look like the Dante she always knew.

The quirky, but almost always smirking guardian being was always there for her.

How did he end up in this situation?

Louise is getting scared for her summoned being...

Dante's eyes began glowing unearthly red as he glared at his enemy, who just stood there, observing.

Just like a cat looking at an already cornered mouse before going in for the kill.

"Ah, so the Devil is starting to emerge. We can't have that here."

Then the inevitable...

Dante, was stabbed through the chest with his own bastard sword, Rebellion.

Then the hooded figure then unceremoniously lops off the devil hunter's head.

A spray of blood from the decapitated body gushes out like a fountain as the blood normally supplying the head loses its true destination and was wasted on the ground.

The hooded figure just shook his head, looking at his handiwork, apparently unsatisfied with the results.

"I was expecting you to put up a better fight..."

Albeit Louise could only see the last part of the event in silhouette, she is definitely sure that her guardian was gone…

She tried to scream, but no voice came out of her,

Then the hooded figure places its attention towards her, its left hand outstretched to her.

A glow could be seen from the back of the figure's hand.

"Come hither, it is your fate." a voice echoed into her head,

She could swear she heard the voice before, but where?

WHEEEEEEEWEEWEWWWWWWWWW!

Louise wakes up with the sound of Dante Tuning up with Nevan.

It was just a dream.

"Myuh?" Louise groggily said,

"G'mornin'" Dante cheerily greets her.

Then she remembered the dream, is it a vision of her summoned being's past? Is it just a figment of her imagination? Or is it something just about to happen?

And another thing bothered her,

'Just who is this Sparda person Dante's said to be related to?' Louise thought, a name that seemed rather she had read or heard somewhere before, but she just couldn't get a finger on it.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Kirche woke up before noon. Today is supposed to be the class day, but due to the many preparations for the coming visit by the esteemed Princess of Tristain on the Springtime Familiar presentation, classes are cancelled. She looked at her window, and found that all the glass was gone, with burn marks surrounding the frame. Still groggy, she stared at the window for a moment before remembering what happened last night.

"Oh Right… a lot of people came, and I blasted them away… all of them except…."

She smiled at one particular memory.

She stopped caring about her window entirely after that. She got up and began putting on makeup, while excitedly plotting how she should seduce Dante today.

Kirche was a born hunter.

And it's time to hunt the hunter.

Then as she thought of the events yesterday, her most treasured memories came with a vengeance. This sent chills up her spine, making her to go weak in her knees.

Looks like she'll be stuck in bed for a while….

When she was done in... whatever she did, she left the room and knocked on Louise's door. She rested her chin on one hand, hiding her smile. Her heartbreaker will open the door,

'and I'll immediately embrace and kiss him.'

'Oh… what will Louise do when she sees that…' Kirche thought.

'And then, right… I can try to eye him outside the room, and maybe he'll approach me himself.'

The thought of rejection never entered her mind.

As if a guy could refuse someone as delectable as her…

However there was no answer after she had knocked. She tried to open the door but it was locked. Without a second thought, she used an unlocking spell on Louise's door, and was rewarded with a click. In reality, unlocking spells were forbidden on campus, but Kirche didn't care. "Passion above all" was the rule of her house.

But the room was empty. The two weren't there.

Kirche looked around the room.

"Still the same… a tasteless room."

Louise's backpack wasn't there. Adding that fact with classes suspended today meant they had gone out somewhere. Kirche looked out the window and saw the two figures on that strange vehicle her beau-to-be called a motorcycle, already departing in a speed that easily surpass horses and lesser dragons; it was her love and Louise.

"What? Going out, huh?" Kirche mumbled in annoyance.

After thinking for a while, she quickly left Louise's room.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Tabitha was in her room, deep in her sea of books. Under her light blue hair and glasses were bright blue eyes that sparkled like the ocean. Tabitha looked four or five years younger than she actually was. She was even a bit shorter than the already short Louise, and her body was quite slim.

However, she didn't care about these things. She was a girl that would rather not care about what people thought of her.

Tabitha loved free days such as this. They're when she could sink into her favorite worlds mainly the world of literary fiction. In her eyes, everyone else was an intruder in her own little world, giving a melancholic feel to her.

But alas her peace isn't gonna last long, strong knocks rocked her door.

Without standing up, Tabitha simply picked up and waved her staff, which seemed to exceed her height. She cast "Spell of Tranquility", a wind-type spell. Tabitha was a mage of the wind affinity. This particular spell effectively blocked out that pesky door knocks.

Satisfied, she returned to her reading, her expression remaining unchanged throughout.

Then somebody forcefully broke the door open. Noticing the intruder, Tabitha moved her eyes from her book.

It was Kirche. She began babbling about something, but with the silencing magic, none of her words reached Tabitha.

Kirche took away Tabitha's book, and then grabbed the little reader's shoulders to make her look at Germanian girl.

Tabitha blankly looked at Kirche, her face unreadable. However, one could see that she had an unwelcoming gaze.

But Kirche was Tabitha's friend. She would have blown anyone else away with a cyclone or worse.

Seeing no other way, Tabitha canceled her magic.

As if a lock was opened, Kirche's voice instantly emerged. "Tabitha! Get ready, we're going out!"

Yup, her peaceful time is effectively cut off.

Tabitha only softly explained to her friend, "Rest Day."

That explanation was enough for Tabitha, who attempted to take her book back from Kirche's grasp.

Kirche stood up and raised the book high in the air, their height difference barring Tabitha from the book.

"Yes, I know how these kind of days are important to you, I really do. But now's not the time for this talk! I'm in love! It's love! Do you get it now?" She didn't, and shook her head.

She actually doesn't give a damn.

Kirche was propelled by her emotions, but Tabitha was a calm and collected thinker. One can only wonder how such polarized people could be such good friends.

"Right… you won't move until I explain. Geez… I. AM. IN. LOVE! But that lad is going out with that damn annoying Louise today! I want to go after them, and find out where they're going! Do you get it now?" Tabitha still didn't, because she still didn't know why that mattered to her.

"They just left! On that two wheeled thing! I can't catch up without your familiar you know? Please, at least help me with that!"

Kirche started crying.

With a sigh, Tabitha finally nodded.

So that's why… Kirche just needs her familiar to catch up.

Kirche was her friend, and she couldn't help it if her friends had their problems that they couldn't take care of themselves. It was a bit annoying, but she didn't have a choice.

She opened her window, and whistled. The sound of the whistle rang in the azure sky for a moment.

She then jumped out of the window.

Those who did not know her would have found it weird, if not alarming. Kirche, however, followed close after Tabitha and jumped out the window without a thought.

Just a note – Tabitha's room was on the fifth floor. She tended to forego the door altogether when she had to go outside since jumping out the window was far quicker for her.

Strong and tough wings spread out to the wind. Then, a wind dragon flew into the air and received its two passengers.

"Your Sylphid is still so awesome no matter how many times I see it!" Kirche grabbed a protruding spine and sighed in admiration. That's right – Tabitha's familiar is an infant wind dragon.

The dragon, which got the name of the "Fairies of the Air" from Tabitha, swiftly and perfectly caught the upward draft around the tower, and reached 200 mails in the air in the blink of an eye.

"Where?" Tabitha succinctly asked Kirche.

Kirche immediately cried, "I don't know… I was panicking."

Tabitha didn't mind, and commanded her wind dragon, "Two people riding something with two wheels. Don't eat them." Her dragon made a short grunt, showing understanding. Its blue scales glittered, and its wings flapped strongly to the wind. It flew high in the air, scouring the ground for the vehicle; a simple task for a wind dragon.

Satisfied that her familiar was doing its job, Tabitha snatched her book back from Kirche's hands, leaned back against the dragon, and started reading again.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

If you're wondering, what Dante's ride is...

Dante's Sleipnir is a red Dual Seat Ducati Testastretta Evolucion 1098 with desmodromic, liquid cooled, 90 degree v-twin cylinder 4 valve cylinder, or so it looked...

It's Usual Specs:

-1099 cc to 1198.4cc engine

-6 geared

-Usual Speed when driven by Dante : 290 km/h - 180 mph, which is why Louise holds on to Dante for dear life when riding with him.

-Max Speed: I have no idea... o.O

-Acceleration: 0-60 mph in 3 seconds.

The thing is, if there's one thing Dante loves most besides fighting/annihilating Devils, its riding insanely fast.

As the duo rode across the dirt path Louise called a road, they came across a fork.

Though, the path on the left seemed rather used less lately.

"Which way, princess? Dante asks his rather ruffled partner, as he stopped the bike.

'At least she's taking this better than she did the first time' he thought.

"Although, both paths lead there, better take the one on the right although it's a bit longer but at least it's safer."

"What makes the left road dangerous?" Dante queries

"That road leads to the Howling Grove."

"Howling Grove?"

"A noisy ghost is said to haunt that place, and it is said that those who hear it are cursed for life."

"Hmm?" Dante's paranormal curiosity is roused at the information.

Maybe he could challenge whatever it is...

He flicks the coin, caught it in mid air and takes a brief look at the results.

"Looks like were taking the shortcut."

Louise groans in resignation.

It wasn't long until the two reached the said grove with the reckless speed that Dante drove the vehicle on, and Louise heard one of the scariest, weirdest incorrigible sounds that she never heard of her entire life.

"It is a ghost after all. Please let's get out of here lest we get cursed." Louise pulled at Dante's coat sleeve as she pleaded with teary eyes.

"Shush," Dante silenced the now scared girl, as he trained his ears to listen and locate the source of the howls.

"Stay here," Dante told the pinkette, who was quite happy that she didn't have to accompany her summoned being, leaving the girl with the bike.

As he casually walks toward the sound, and as he closes to it, the yowling sound becomes much intelligible...much to his surprise... it is rendered in one his world's languages.

"YESTERDAAAAYY, ALL MY TROUBLES SEEMS SO FAR AWAYYYY, NOW I NEED A PLACE TO HIDE AWAYYY, OW I BELIEVE IN YESTERDAY... SUDDENLY.." the 'ghost' sang out in a voice that seems metallic and so out of tune, that the original artist will never rest in peace once he heard this rendition.

"I never expected that song to pop up here." Dante thought as he kept his poker face, trying to shut off the sound and to concentrate on finding the source of the ...er... music.

'Even my banged-up jukebox can play this song better.' As he looked around the bushes.

"WHY SHEEE HAD TOO GO I DUNNO, SHE WOULDEN SAY, I SEE SOMZING RONG, OL EYE KNO' TIT'S EASTERDAY YEY YEY YEY"

Now, that really killed the spirit of the song, and then the voice hummed the rest of the demolished song, completely out of tune.

"OK, THAT'S THE LAST STRAW! SHUT UP ALREADY!" Dante cried to the 'singer' in a much distorted, deeper voice than he intended, and his eyes glowed red in rage.

Louise, who heard Dante's unnatural shout, cringed and hid behind the Sleipnir.

Amazingly the voice falls silent.

"Geez man, you're murdering a legendary song the way you sing that." Dante then resumed speaking in normal tone.

"SPARDA? Is that you?" the metallic voice asked, its excitement present in its...er... voice.

'Ok, that is not a development I expected' Dante thought as he now managed to find where that voice came from.

Hidden by tall shrubbery, Dante comes upon a rusty single edged long sword stuck in the boulder... apparently the source of the entire racket this forest has been suffering from.

Dante facepalms despite himself, upon realizing the fact.

'Oh great, another talking sword. As if Agni and Rudra aren't enough trouble already.' Dante thought, as he kept his face straight looking at the sword on the stone.

He was referring to the pair of magical big-ass scimitars. Elemental Devil Arms which he acquired when he was just starting out.

Together, they were called Agni and Rudra the Firestorm.

He called them annoying.

They are pretty powerful Arms, but the thing is, once they start talking they can't seem to stop, until Dante slams their heads located at the pommels to get them to shut up.

But then he wondered how does this weapon know of his father?

"You're not Sparda. But the way you tell me off, you sound like the guy. Are you related to him by any chance?" the sword rattled off, as the sword guard moved up and down, serving as its mouth as it spoke.

How the sword could see Dante, with it having no means of seeing like eyes is a big mystery to the devil hunter...

"Okay but first, how do you know of Sparda?" he asked, knowing from experience that some devils have a tendency to say they are in some way related to his father just to take a cheap shot at him.

"I once fought with the man before, though he may be a prudish prick from time to time. But a he's great guy once you get to know him."

By the sound of the statement, this thing is telling the truth.

He sighed.

"I'm his son,"

Silence

Then the sword laughs, as if it was natural for a non-living object to do so...

"Youre his kid? By thunder, I never imagined I would meet one of his sons. Wow, you're like, all grown up now. So, how're your parents doing? And your brother?" the sword asked, between laughs as if he's trying to catch a breath, and speak at the same time.

Definitely this one's different from the rather emotionless tone of the Scimitars he have. This one seems rather a fun conversation buddy.

"Mom's been dead since I was eight, Dad disappeared much earlier, and my brother's been dead for some time now," Dante replied casually, though he felt a slight tug to his heart as the memories of their demise surfaced for a second. Devils never cry indeed.

"Such a shame really, Sparda has always told us about his family he inavertedly left behind, he even kept a portrait of you guys in a locket. He misses you guys a lot." The sword said, sombre at the news.

Dante, then realized that this might be the reason his father never came back to home that time. Somehow, I eased his heart that his father actually thought about them all this time.

Maybe, just maybe, Dante could still forgive the man after that things have passed in his life all these years.

After all, shit happens, as he experienced it himself as he sort-of took over his father's job.

"Ah, Eva was such a hottie. Damn, your father is one lucky bastard." The sword rattled in a lecherous manner.

Dante's eyebrows twitched.

"If you say things that way about my mother, I will shoot that thing you use as a mouth."

"Yup, you're his son alright." The sword chuckled.

"So, how about letting me out of here for the sake of good times with your old man, eh?"

Dante was curious of what did his father did in this world. Though he felt he might be regretting this decision if he takes the sentient weapon.

As always, a coin tosses...and lands on...

"Crap." Dante spat as he looked at the rusty blade.

"I'll be taking you along, but at least be quiet most of the time."

"Aye aye, sire."

"And don't tell anyone about my past, at least for now."

"Aye."

But before Dante could take hold of the Sword's hilt, he stopped.

Looking at the stuck sword on the boulder, he seriously asks,

"You're not going to stab me in the chest or kill me in any way after I pull you out, would you?"

"Why the heck would I do that?"

"Just checking." Dante replied as he effortlessly pulled the broadsword off the rock.

"I never caught your name, partner." The sword asks, as Dante hefts it up.

"Call me Dante."

"I'm Derflinger. Here's to hoping that we slay a lot of enemies together." The sword, now known as Derflinger crowed into the sun.

As Dante starts to walk off, he notices something beside the boulder,

"So that's where you picked up that song…"

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Later, Dante and Louise walked briskly on Tristain's city streets.

Louise's body ached profusely, with the Dante's high speed driving. "Tell me why I always end up riding that thing…" Louise moaned, walking slowly.

'Cause my ride's awesome.' Dante thought, idly inspecting the just magically restored IPOD MP3 player, as he looked at the playlist.

'The past owner's definitely an old rock head...' he thought as he put the player away.

As for Louise, she wondered where Dante got that damned contraption, and as to where the vehicle they rode into town with...

As soon as they reached town, the vehicle somehow just vanished as soon as she looked away after the ride, looking a bit green from 'coach sickness.'

"Well… we can't walk our way here now can we?" Dante said to the girl aloud.

"We could have just rented horses."

'You have no idea what you just rode, kid.' Dante thought, referring to Sleipnir as he scanned the town they're at.

'White cobblestone roads… feels like a theme park here. Compared to the Academy, there were far more people in common garb here. On the street side were vendors selling fruit and meat.' The devil hunter thought,

Dante's love for exotic places momentarily rose. But this was a weird world. There were people briskly walking and people frantically running. Males and females of all ages walked the streets. Comparing to the streets in his world, it's really small.

"A little bit tight over here…"

"Tight? This is a really wide street as it is." Louise huffed as she walked briskly through the street.

"Just this?"

Not even 5 meters wide. With this many people walking around, every step felt cramped.

"Bourdonné Street, Tristain's widest avenue. The palace is straight ahead." Louise pointed.

"To the palace, then."

"What business do we have visiting Her Majesty The Queen?"

"To scare a little mouse under her chair?" Dante joked.

She didn't get it.

Coughing, Dante then tried to switch topic by actually proceeding with their current errand.

"Well let's go shopping then?"

"Yeah, yeah." Louise replies, reluctantly.

"I can't believe you actually talked me into this."

"Don't worry, I can assure you we will give them one hell of a surprise when it's our turn." Dante assures the pinkette.

Yeah, at least that's one of the few things Louise can concur. After seeing what Dante could do in just a few days since he arrived, It seemed there's nothing impossible for the snow-haired hunter could do.

The duo walked into an even narrower road. A revolting stench, coming from piles of trash and other dirty things on the ground, soon hit their noses.

"It's really dirty here."

"I told you nobles don't come here that often."

At the fourth intersection, Louise stopped and looked around.

"Hmph!" Louise huffed. "Just follow me. I know where the tailor is. They're very good and should be able to cover anything we need."

"So long as they do custom work," Dante shrugged, letting the girl lead the way.

Tabitha and Kirche had made it to Tristania on the back of Slyphid and landed nearby. Kirche was off like a shot and after telling the blue dragon not to eat anything, Tabitha was right behind her.

Kirche led the way through the crowds of people as they went about their business, panicking over not finding Louise and Dante anywhere they looked. Tabitha calmly followed, still holding her book and looking at its pages rather than looking through the masses of shoppers.

"Where could they be?" Kirche fretted. "I won't have that girl try to steal My Heartbreaker away from me!"

"There." Tabitha's soft voice called out, pointing her cane in another direction than the pair was travelling.

"Huh?"Kirche blinked, looking to her friend. From there, she followed Tabitha's pointing direction to see a familiar head of pink hair and foreign set of clothes heading towards a tailor's shop. The only difference from the image Kirche was familiar with was a new sword stuck to the he beloved's back along with the Rebellion. "Ah! There they are! And it looks like they're going to get some new clothes for him to go with that sword."

Tabitha merely blinked as she continued reading her book. It really wasn't her business despite Kirche bringing her into it.

"Well she'll learn that material goods cannot buy love like the one I share with Darling!" the amorous redhead declared resolutely.

Tabitha simply turned the page of her book.

"Taylor Swift's Dress Shop"

The tailor's shop was in fact a much more comfortable place to be than any of the shop's they'd been.

'Taylor Swift, nice pun there.' Dante thought looking at the shop sign at the door, but still can't help but wonder as to why the name seemed so familiar.

The owner was in fact a pretty, light blue haired woman who had her hair tied in a bun using what looked like huge knitting needles helping keep it up. Rather than a dress like other women Dante have seen wear, she was wearing simple country skirt with an apron which is filled with different sewing tools and a short-sleeved shirt. To be honest, it looked like a functional set of clothes to work in when it came to that sort of thing.

He is still wondering how the heck these people got such outlandish hair colors.

She was working on a middle-age style mannequin which was modelling a dress she was making. As the two entered, a bell rang and alerted her to their presence. Looking up from her work, her eyes sparked with recognition when they landed on Louise.

"Ah! If it's not M'selle Valliere again," the woman smiled. "Come to get your uniform fixed again?"

"Not this time M'selle Taylor," Louise answered. She was strangely treated with more esteem to someone who by all rights was a commoner.

Maybe it was because of how often she likely needed her uniform fixed after one of her 'accidents'.

"I'm shopping for a new wardrobe for my companion here and a cloak for me to use during the Familiar Exhibition tomorrow."

"A guardian- the human familiar?" M'selle Taylor blinked, actually stopping her sewing to stare at Dante and Louise.

"I heard some of the other students who came in mention such a thing, but I thought that it was just some gossip that was going around."

"Oh, it's true," Dante nodded bowing slightly to the seamstress. "I am the guardian of Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, but you can call me Dante, an odd jobs man."

The seamstress blushed when she accidentally looked the half-devil's handsome visage, and slight quickening of her pulse told her something about Dante that seem to gravitate her towards this man.

"Don't get any ideas with her," Louise huffed noticing the atmosphere.

"Hey, I was just trying to properly introduce myself, "Dante defended himself.

He couldn't resist smirking.

Taylor didn't seem to mind the banter and instead seemed to find it somewhat heart-warming from the way she was smiling at two, "You two remind me of my elder brother and I."

"Hah?-!" Louise gaped while Dante struggled to not smirk, much. "Listen here! He is my guardian being! As if he can compare to someone of noble birth, much less a Valliere like me or my sisters!"

Then she paled upon realizing who it is she is insulting. She felt the need to have her memories checked one of these days.

"I can kick noble ass and use magic...stuff, can't I?" Dante chuckled, looking at the young Valliere, who shivered at the memory.

"You can?" asked Derflinger, wiggling himself out of his sheathe enough to talk. "Oh yeah, of course you can. Man, do I know how to pick a partner. As expected of the son of..!" the sword is slammed back to the sheath by the devil hunter,

"Shut up, Derf." He muttered

M'selle Taylor gaped quite openly at the announcement, notwithstanding the fact that an inanimate object just spoke up. Obviously not having heard that much when it came to rumors about Dante and Louise, "Y-You…you can use magic? Does that mean you a noble?"

"No, he is not!" Louise hissed, losing her already short patience, again forgetting that little fact about her guardian.

"Now we came here to discuss a new wardrobe for my fam...guardian and my cloak and I hope you can provide!"

Taylor could tell like Dante could that Louise was through fooling around.

'Seems like she's getting nervous of the coming performance come tomorrow.' Dante thought.

Quickly shaking off her shock, she returned to her more professional mindset so she could complete her business with Louise and not antagonize the Valliere family through their daughter,

"Okay, now what can I help you with?"

Before Louise could say anything else, Dante cuts her off.

"Well," Dante began stepping forward. "I'd like a set of outfits similar to what I'm wearing, and a something special that will be something close to the best clothes used for a noble, and as for the materials." Dante snaps his fingers.

M'selle Taylor was suddenly surprised that a set of materials for the said clothes appeared on her work table, and the fabrics, especially the leather to be used for making the coats are absolutely to die for.

'Just what is it made of' she wondered, as she ran her fingers through the fabric.

But then on the upside, these things are one of the best and probably the easiest materials she had worked with for a long time.

She was fascinated by the materials that she forgot how in the world these things appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

Louise looked at her summoned being who, just looked back at her, grinned and just shrugged.

Okay, she WILL ask him how he did that later.

"Oh, don't worry about that," M'selle Taylor smiled. "In my shop, thread work is um... swift!" She then made a gesture with her hands which made a familiar feeling enter the air.

Suddenly, needles attached to thread rose into the air behind the seamstress before another snap of her fingers made the needles dive towards the dress she had been working on, forming an intricate design in the fabric which made the dress look beautiful. Louise didn't seem surprised, but Dante sure as hell was.

"You can use magic too?" Dante asked raising an eyebrow. "Doesn't that mean you're a noble as well?"

"Used to be," M'selle Taylor corrected, not even glancing back as her needles completed their work.

"My full name is Aile Graise von Taylor, the Swift name is my nickname my brother gave me. I was the third daughter of my family and wasn't really planned to receive my family's fortune like my older brother was. My parents intended to have me marry a complete ass, in which after having dinner meet with him once and fighting off his groping hands. So I decided to leave and find my own fortune."

She ends her tale with a shrug, while maintaining the concentration necessary for the work at hand.

"I see," Dante nodded. He felt a little awkward for stupidly asking about an obviously painful past.

"Well, it figures why you'd be able to open a tailor's shop here where nobles frequent. You must be one of the best, am I right?" Dante said.

"Just about every noble comes here for uniform fittings at the school," M'selle Taylor smiled.

And so they went on talking about different stuff in which Dante learns some more about the sorry states of the Nobles who aren't lucky enough to have properties….

With the help of Dante's design suggestions, M'selle Taylor manages to finish the entire set of Dante's outfits and Louise's cloak in no time.

As she expertly gave the finishing touches on Dante's new set of clothes. This particular set consists of a long sleeved crimson twin-tailed longcoat with black cuffs, a black long sleeved shirt, and brown leather pants.

"Now then, before we finish this last suit, what will I do with these fabrics here?" indicating the extra set of materials, which Dante had not indicated to include with his wardrobe.

"Ah yes that one, there is another costume design I would like you to make for me…"

The pinkette seemed willing to at least wait as she took a seat on a nearby chair reserved for waiting customers. Dante just contented himself to wait at the counter for Quinn to return with the clothes.

Then as was their usual luck as of late, something or someone popping up unexpectedly. In this case, it was a familiar chesty redhead kicking the door open and entering in her usual flourish with her quiet bluenette friend following her.

"Darling~!" Kirche called as she and Tabitha came into the store.

"Zerbst!" Louise hissed, up on her feet in an instant. "What are you doing here!-?"

"Oh, it's you, Zero," Kirche responded idly acknowledging Louise by the sidelines by using that nickname the pinkette hated so much.

Pleasantries with the girl she loved to torment aside, she spotted her quarry and smiled widely before going up to hug him, "Oh, Darling. I've missed you."

She pressed herself against the mildly surprised hunter tightly, once again trying to have him memorize the shape of her breasts using his chest, rubbing it against his.

Most guys dream of this situation….

'Been there done that.' Dante thought as he inwardly shrugs at his predicament.

"Kirche, unhand my guardian this instant!" Louise snapped. She was beginning to tremble in her fury and her wand had ended up in her hand, just itching to be used despite the fact that she knew it's not the right time or place to do so.

Oh how she will relish that time when she will show this Zerbst that Louise is no longer the girl she used to know as 'the zero'.

Anyway, her usual result in trying to cast spells before learning the affinity would be enough for the probable violence she had in mind.

"Hi, Kirche," Dante greeted nicely, still trying not to think about the explosion of rage and magic between these two which may or may not be coming.

"Darling, I can still clearly remember that precious moment we made in my room," Kirche said, gazing up at the grinning man with heat in her eyes. "Thank you ever so much."

'Yeah, I'm really good.' Dante grins to himself.

"Alright, that's it." Louise said, as she rose into as much height as she could, as well as putting out her rather flat chest.

" I challenge you to a duel, Kirche."

'Aw, heck.' Dante thought.

At the same moment, a figure stalks the Academy halls...

／人◕ . ◕人＼


	7. Mission 7 : The Thief and the Gunslinger

This is a work in progress... and I will be tweaking it here and there later, maybe.

But for now,

Lets Begin...

Lights,

Camera,

Action!

Mission 7 : The Thief and the Gunslinger

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Fantasy Pic: Tabitha in her panties, wearing only Dante's Crimson Longcoat over her body, while she sits on the bed reading a book.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

After getting the finished clothes and paying the seamstress handsomely, courtesy of Dante giving her a small bag of jewels…

Which answers the question, why is the devil hunter not in want of cash as of late.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

'Somehow we ended up here,' Dante thought as the two Academy students face each other off on the school's field.

"Are you sure about this, Valliere?" Kirche asks, looking a bit apprehensive

"Just get your wand already." Louise huffed impatiently as she held hers in such intensity, Dante is sure the thing will break in twain if the pinkette held it just a tad tighter.

He shook his head as he thought "This Middle-age thing is beginning to get to me, I'm even start thinking 'Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe' style."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Let us pause for a moment and see what else is happening at the same moment nearby as well as a certain someone's tale….

When Fouquet heard that a noble in the North had a jeweled crown, he would go all the way there to steal it. When Fouquet heard that a noble in the South had a staff bestowed by the king as a family treasure, he broke through walls to steal it. In the East, none of the best pearl rings by the artisans of the White Islands remained in any mansion. Fouquet also eagerly took possession of a priceless bottle of well-aged wine from a winery in the West. The thief was everywhere.

Fouquet's tactics range from stealthy infiltration to outright breaking in. The national bank had been attacked in broad daylight, and houses were silently frequented in the depth of night. In any case, Fouquet's tactics simply left the royal mage guards in the dust.

Fouquet was identified only by the use of alchemy to enter targeted rooms, turning doors and walls to dirt and sand, then walking through the gaping holes. The nobles were not stupid, of course, they had tried to magically "solidify" everything around their treasure in an attempt to stop the alchemy, but Fouquet's magic was simply too strong, nullifying everything, fortified or not, into dirt.

If Fouquet decided on breaking the way in, a 30-mail tall dirt golem was used. Tossing aside mage guards and shattering castle walls, it let him boldly take prizes in broad daylight.

No one had ever seen Fouquet's appearance up close. Nobody even knew for sure whether he was a man or a woman. All they knew is that Fouquet was an earth mage of at least Triangle class, that he left insulting notes, such as "I got your treasure. –-Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt" at every robbery scene, and that he preferred treasures and artifacts of great magical power.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Two huge moons shone down on the walls outside the fifth floor of the Academy of Magic, which encased a treasure room. The light stretched out a shadow, standing straight against the walls. Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt.

Fouquet's green, long hair moved with the wind, and Fouquet briskly stood, openly showing the figure that strikes fear in all the nobles of the country.

Pressing a foot against the wall, Fouquet felt the wall's power and could not help but admire it. The main tower of the Academy is as strong as it looks… is a physical attack really its only weakness? I can't break through something this thick without attracting attention. It was not hard for an expert in earth magic like Fouquet to check a wall's thickness with their feet, but breaking a wall was completely different. It looks like they used only hardening spells on it, but I can't even break this with a golem. It's got a very strong hardening spell… my alchemy won't do much.

"Damn it… and I already got this far." The thief's teeth grit in frustration. "I'm not leaving the Staff of Destruction, no matter what." Fouquet crossed his arms and went into deep concentration.

Meanwhile, standing on the walls of the central academy tower, Fouquet felt footsteps. He jumped off towards the ground, and just as Fouquet reached it, he whispered "Spell of Levitation", landing like a feather, absorbing his momentum. Fouquet then disappeared into the courtyard bushes.

Meanwhile, Fouquet watched them from the bushes. The thief saw the crack on the walls from Louise's blast, as the two students duelled. What kind of magic is that? She asked for a fireball spell, a fireball did came and the wall blew up. I've never heard of a spell that can make things explode like this, even from a fireball blast. Fouquet shook his head. More importantly, I can't let go of this chance. Fouquet started chanting a long spell, waving his wand at the ground. When finished, a mild smile formed on his face. Following Fouquet's voice, a bulge formed on the ground. Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt was showing his talent.

The duel is running in full steam with neither of the two giving an inch as they cast spells against each other.

"Not bad, Louise. Looks like I'm not calling you a zero anymore." A rather dishevelled Kirche grins at the pinkette, who is at the same condition,

"I'll take that as a compliment, Zerbst."

Kirche was pleasantly surprised that Louise can actually cast spells properly now and could go toe to toe against her.

Although Kirche loved to tease the mini-mage, she….

Right then, Kirche felt something behind her. She turned around. She couldn't believe her eyes. "What… what the heck is this?" Her jaw dropped. What she saw was a huge earth golem moving towards them.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!" Kirche ran away screaming.

That left Dante and Louise looking at the towering behemoth of dirt.

Dante just looked the thing behind her,

He wasn't in a panic. After all, he had seen worse things than an enormous golem, and it was heading towards him.

"Nice!"

Dante wanted to just go all out and stuff, but since the discovery of the activities that his father did here, it seems that it's not yet time for this world to see another devil with powers such as Sparda's.

Louise recovered her senses and ran towards him.

"You…what are you standing around for?"

"Just taking in the sights?"

Above them, the golem raised its foot.

Dante then began to formulate a plan, but first,

"Louise, get out of there!" He yelled.

"Dammit… I won't run away…" Louise couldn't get her body to move for some reason.

The golem's foot descended.

Louise closed her eyes.

In that instant, Tabitha's wind dragon veered from the skies grabbing the two with its talons and pulled them out from under the foot with only inches to spare, before it came down crushing everything under it in a heartbeat.

Hanging under the wind dragon, Dante and Louise watched the golem. Dante then asked, "…the hell is that thing doing here?"

"I'm not sure… but it's one gigantic earth golem! Somebody must have summoned that!"

"No duh?" Dante deadpanned.

"…whoever summoned this must be at least a triangle level mage." Louise said

Dante frowned, and thought of Louise, who tried to stay with him despite her danger. "That aside… why didn't you run?"

"No respectable master would desert her familiar like that." She answered frankly.

Dante watched her quietly. For some reason, he found her quite cute… just now.

Fouquet, standing on the golem's shoulder, smiled and paid no attention to the wind dragon or Kirche escaping. A dark cape covered him from head to toe so they could not make out his face. Fouquet transformed the golem fist to a metallic composition, and ordered it to punch the wall. A dull thump sounded as the metallic fist hit in the wall, collapsing it. Under the dark cape, Fouquet smirked.

The golem transported Fouquet in with its hand, and the thief entered through the hole and into the treasure vault. It stored valuables of every kind, but Fouquet had only one target.

The Staff of Destruction.

A row of staffs of many sorts hung on the wall, but one came to Fouquet as completely unlike a staff. It was two mails long, and made with a sort of metal that he had never seen before. He looked at the metal plate right under it, reading, "Staff of Destruction, do not remove." His smile grew to a grin.

Fouquet picked up the Staff of Destruction, and was shocked by its lightness. Just what is this thing made of? He had no time to ponder and ran back on to the golem's shoulder.

Fouquet burned a message onto the wall before leaving: "I got your Staff of Destruction. –Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt."

With its caped summoner sitting on its shoulder, the golem leaped over the Academy walls, landed with a huge thud, and moved toward the grasslands and beyond.

Above the golem, the wind dragon circled around. Tabitha, sitting on the wind dragon, waved her staff for a Spell of Levitation, moving Dante and Louise onto the dragon's back.

"Thanks," he said to Tabitha in gratitude.

Her face remained blank, only nodding in acceptance.

Dante watched the gigantic earth golem, and asked Louise, "That mage… broke the wall. But what for?"

"The treasure vault." Tabitha answered.

"He was holding something when it came out of that hole."

"It was a thief. But… that was quite bold."

They watched as the giant golem suddenly crumbled in mid-run, into a large mound of dirt.

The crime was perfectly executed, and was swift.

They descended to the ground.

Brightly illuminated by the moons, there was nothing else besides the mountain of dirt. Just like that, the summoning mage had disappeared into the night.

"That is one smooth criminal." Dante whistled as he surveyed the damage.

'But he won't get away with it.'

／人◕ . ◕人＼

The next morning…

At the Tristain Academy of Magic, there was much commotion from last night's events, just as though a wasp's nest had been stirred.

Why? Because the Staff of Destruction had been stolen.

And it was brazenly stolen by using an Earth Golem to break through the wall of the vault.

The teachers of the Academy of Magic gathered inside the vault were speechless when they saw the gaping hole in the wall.

The inscription on the wall etched by Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt said it all:

[I have acquired the Staff of Destruction. Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt]

At this point in time, all the teachers at the academy could do was gripe and whine

"It's that thief who had looted the nobles clean, Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt! How daring of him to target the academy!"

"What were the guards doing?"

"Even if the guards are around, they're useless! They're only commoners! Speaking of which, which noble was supposed to be on duty last night?"

Madame Chevreuse felt anxious. She was supposed to be on duty last night. "But who would steal from the academy?" she thought while sleeping soundly in her own room instead of being next to the vault door like all nobles on watch duty must do.

One of the teachers immediately pointed out and said, "Madame Chevreuse! You were supposed to be on duty last night! Am I right?"

Madame Chevreuse broke into tears, "I'm very sorry… Very sorry…"

"Even if you cried your heart out, would it come back? Or are you going to pay for it?"

"But… but I just finished paying for my house." Madame Chevreuse knelt down on the floor and wept.

Just then, Old Osman arrived. "Erm… This is not the best time to be hard on the ladies, right?"

The fellow teacher who reprimanded Madame Chevreuse retorted, "But Osman, Madame Chevreuse failed in her duty! She was sleeping soundly in her bed when she was supposed to be on watch!"

Old Osman gently stroke his long beard while looking at the very shaken and stirred teacher.

"Erm… What's your name again?"

"It's Gimli! Have you forgotten?"

"Oh, right! Gimli! Well, M'sieu Gimli, don't get angry. Honestly speaking, how many of you here can say that you're always vigilant throughout your tour of duty?" Old Osman replied.

The teachers looked at each other and hung their heads in shame. There was silence.

"Well, that's the situation that we're in now. Talking about responsibility, I think all of us, including myself, have to be held accountable for this incident. Why did we think that a thief could never infiltrate the academy? Is it because of the number of mages we have in the academy here that gives us the assurance that we won't be attacked? This type of thinking is wrong from the beginning."

Old Osman gazed at the hole in the wall and continued, "It's our complacency that has given Fouquet the courage to trespass, and steal the Staff of Destruction. We're all at fault."

Madame Chevreuse looked upon Old Osman with gratitude and said, "Oh! Osman, M'sieu Osman! Thank you for your benevolence. From now on I'll look upon you as though you're my father."

"Well, that… Hehe… M'selle…" Old Osman started to stroke Madame Chevreuse's bottom.

"If that's okay with you… It's up to the headmaster then."

Old Osman, not wanting to put the blame on anybody, decided that was the best way to loosen the uptight atmosphere. Besides, this afternoon, the Familiar Presentation must proceed as well.

After that he proceeded to clear his throat, with everybody remaining solemn waiting for him to speak.

"Well then, who were the ones who witnessed the theft?" Osman asked.

"It was these three." said M'sieu Colbert while pointing to the three people behind him.

It was Louise, Kirche and Tabitha. Dante was also present but due to the fact that he's a summoned being, he wasn't counted as a "person".

If he only knew...

"Oh… It's you guys…" Osman said as he looked at Dante with great interest.

Dante, who probably knows why he was being stared at, but remained courteous nonetheless.

"Please tell us about the event in depth."

Louise stepped forward and described what she saw. "Mm… A great clay golem appeared and broke the wall. The hooded magician standing on its shoulder went in and took something… I think it most probably was the Staff of Destruction... After that the hooded mage rode on the golem and escaped beyond the school walls… The golem became a big mound of earth in the end."

"After that, what happened?"

"Later, all we saw was a mound of earth, with no sign of the hooded mage."

"So… that is what happened…" Osman said while stroking his beard.

"Even though we wanted to carry on the chase, but without any leads we couldn't. So…"

At this point in time Old Osman suddenly remembered a question to ask M'sieu Colbert, "Ah, Where is M'selle Longueville?"

"I'm not sure, I haven't seen her since morning."

"Where could she have gone to during these trying times?"

"That's right, where could she be?"

In the midst of those mutterings, M'selle Longueville finally appeared.

"M'selle Longueville! Where have you been? Something terrible has happened!" said M'sieu Colbert anxiously.

M'selle Longueville spoke to Old Osman in a very cool and calm manner. "I'm extremely sorry to be late! I was doing some investigations. So…"

"Investigations?"

"Yes. When I woke up this morning there was already a lot of commotion happening, so then I went to the vault and saw the inscription on the wall made by Fouquet. I knew that the thief infamous throughout the land had struck again. Therefore, I immediately started investigations."

"You're really very efficient, M'selle Longueville." M'sieu Colbert then asked again in an urgent manner, "But in the end, did you find out anything?"

"Yes, I have gotten hold of the whereabouts of Fouquet."

"What!" Mr. Colbert spoke with amazement. "Where did you get this information from M'selle Longueville?"

"According to the commoners around the area, they saw what seemed to be like a person wearing a black hooded cloak entering an abandoned house in the nearby forest. I think that the person is most probably Fouquet and that abandoned house is most probably his hideout."

Louise upon hearing that exclaimed, "A black hooded cloak? Unmistakable, that must be Fouquet!"

Old Osman too got psyched up and asked M'selle Longueville, "How far is it from here?"

"By foot it takes half a day, by horse it should only take four hours."

"We must report this to the Imperial Court right away! We must seek reinforcements from the imperial army!" M'sieu Colbert shouted yet again.

Old Osman shook his head and stared at Colbert and with a vigor unfitting for an old man and shouted, "You fool! By the time we report this to the imperial court, Fouquet would have gotten away Scott free! Besides, if we can't even handle such a small problem on our own, we're not fit to be called nobles! Since the staff was stolen from the academy, then it's the academy's responsibility to get back the staff ourselves!"

M'selle Longueville smiled, as though she was waiting for this answer all along.

Old Osman coughed for a while, and then started recruiting volunteers. "Now, we're going to organize a search team to find Fouquet. Those willing to join, please rise up your wands."

All of the nobles looked at each other awkwardly, not one raised a wand.

"No one? That's strange. No one wants to be known as the hero who caught Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt?"

Louise was among those who lowered their heads but she decided to raise her wand.

"M'selle Vallière!" Madame Chevreuse exclaimed in surprise. "You mustn't do this! You're still a student! Please leave this to the teachers!"

"But none of you are willing to help…" Louise muttered.

Dante looked at Louise with a knowing smile. With the rather serious look on Louise, she looked like she could accomplish anything.

And she CAN, Dante will assure it.

Seeing that Louise had raised her wand, Kirche too raised her wand, with a little reluctance though.

M'sieu Colbert even more surprised, exclaimed; "M'selle Zerbst! Aren't you a student too?"

Kirche replied nonchalantly, "Well, I simply cannot lose to the Vallière family."

Seeing Kirche raising her wand, Tabitha did the same.

"Tabitha! You need not do this! This does not concern you at all!" Kirche said.

Tabitha just answered, "I'm worried."

Feeling touched, Kirche looked at Tabitha with gratitude.

Louise at the same time also muttered, "Thank you… Tabitha."

Seeing the three of them, Old Osman laughed and said, "Well then, it's all up to you three now."

"Sir! Headmaster Osman! I strongly object! We must not put the life of a student in danger!"

"Well, would you then go in their stead, Madame Chevreuse?"

"Ah... Erm… Well… I'm not feeling very well recently, so…"

"They have seen Fouquet before plus, even though M'selle Tabitha here is very young, I have heard that she has already been conferred the title of chevalier, am I right?"

Tabitha did not answer and just stood quietly.

All the teachers looked at Tabitha in astonishment.

"Is that true, Tabitha?" asked Kirche in similar astonishment.

Even though chevalier is the lowest title that the Imperial family can confer to a person, Kirche was still amazed that Tabitha could attain it at such a young age.

If it's a title of "Baron" or even "Marquis", the titles could be obtained by purchasing large amounts of land. However for a person to be called a chevalier, the only way is to render great service for the country. It's a title that can only be conferred by merit.

Once again, there was great commotion inside the vault.

Old Osman went on and looked on Kirche and said, "Miss Zerbst from Germania comes from a family of distinguished war heroes, and she herself has a very strong background in fire magic."

Kirche flicked her hair with confidence.

Louise, thinking that it was time for her to be praised too, cutely stood to attention.

Old Osman was now in a pinch. There was almost nothing to praise about Louise…

"Ahem!" Clearing his throat, Osman veered his sight clear of Louise and said; "That... M'selle Vallière comes from the prestigious Vallière Family, a family renowned for their mages. And… She'll be a promising one in the future… and as for her Guardian…"

Placing his gaze on Dante, Osman continued saying; "Even though he's a commoner, he has defeated General Gramont's son, Guiche de Gramont in battle." Old Osman thought to himself: 'and if he really is the related to the legendary Sparda… Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt should not be a match for him.'

M'sieu Colbert also enthusiastically added; "Yes! Yes! Because he is the legendary Da…"

Old Osman hastily covered M'sieu Colbert's mouth before he could finish his sentence. "A.. Hahaha… He's talking nonsense! Haha!..."

Then there was silence again.

Then Headmaster Osman in a solemn tone spoke, "If anyone thinks that they're more capable than the mentioned three, please step forward."

No one stepped forward.

Therefore Old Osman turned to the group of four and said, "The academy awaits the capture of Fouquet then!"

Louise, Kirche and Tabitha stood to attention and said, "We swear upon our wands to capture Fouquet!"

After that they pulled the edges of their skirts and made a curtsy. Dante also hastily followed. As he wasn't wearing a skirt, he just bowed stiffly.

"Well then, ready the carriage and set off right away. You must conserve your energy before you reach your destination."

"M'selle Longueville, could you go with them, too?"

"Yes, Headmaster Old Osman. I had wanted to go with them as well," said M'selle Longueville.

So under the lead of M'selle Longueville, the four quickly set off.

Even though it was considered a carriage, in actual fact it was just a cart with wooden planks attached as a seat. The good thing about it though was that if they were attacked, they could easily jump out of the carriage right way.

M'selle Longueville was in charge of driving the carriage.

While the other three are properly seated, the devil hunter just laid and took a nap, his swords propped beside him, much to the pinkette's embarrassment.

"Wake me up when we get there, will ya?" Dante told his "Master" earlier.

She's a bit peeved by being ordered like that in front of people, by her summoned being nonetheless.

The thing is, knowing Dante when pissed off...

Kirche asked the silent Longueville who was concentrating on the reins, "M'selle Longueville, this type of job could be done by a commoner. Why do you have to do it yourself?"

M'selle Longueville smiled and answered; "It's all right. I'm not a noble anyway."

Kirche paused for a while, and asked again, "But aren't you Headmaster Osman's secretary?"

"Yes, I am. But Old Osman isn't a person who is concerned by a person's status when looking for help. Whether if he's a noble or commoner."

"If it's possible, tell me in depth how you lost your status, please."

But M'selle Longueville just smiled at Kirche. It seemed like she did not want to speak anymore.

"Just tell me please, even if it's just a little." Kirche pestered as she began leaning closer to M'selle Longueville. Just then she felt someone grabbing her shoulder. It was Louise. Kirche then turned around and said, "What is it that you want, Vallière?"

"Forget it. Stop raking up someone's past."

"Humph, I'm bored, that's why I needed some one to talk to". Kirche replied while placing her hands behind her head and laying against the side of the carriage.

"I do not know if this applies to your country, but in Tristain, it's a shameful act to force someone to reveal something that he or she does not want to say."

Kirche did not answer her. She got up and sat in a cross legged position and began saying, "It's all because of your impetuous that got me into this mess. Capturing Fouquet…"

Louise gave an angry stare at Kirche, "What do you mean by that? Didn't you volunteer yourself in?"

"If you had came alone, wouldn't Dante be in danger, too? Am I right, Louise the Zero?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Anyways, if that large golem appeared again, you would surely run to the rear and let Dante do all the fighting, right?"

"Why would I run away? I could use my magic now!"

"You, fight alongside Darling? What a joke!"

The two started bickering again. Tabitha continued reading her book.

"That's enough! Would you both please shut up?" Dante interrupted, cracking an eye open.

Kirche did a gesture and said, "Humph, I'll stop. I'm not the one at fault anyway."

Louise bit her lips.

"Well then darling, this is for you." Kirche looked at Dante seductively, and then placed in his arms the sword that she had bought for him.

"Thanks." Dante said while taking the sword.

Louise stared at the both of them, but kept quiet.

Suddenly, it turned dark. The carriage had entered the forest. The darkness and the weird smell present in the forest sent shivers down their spines.

"We'll have to walk from here onwards." M'selle Longueville said. The group then disembarked from the carriage, and proceeded to the small path into the forest.

"I'm afraid of the dark and don't like the feeling around here…" Kirche said while wrapping her arms around Dante's.

Not that he minded the harassment, as the fleshy globes pressed against his chest, but he deadpanned,

"Could you not keep so close to me?"

"But I'm afraid!" Kirche said with exaggerated reaction.

Anyone could tell that she was lying…

Dante felt something tug at his senses, danger.

Dante, worried about Louise's safety, glanced at her.

Louise turned her head away. Apparently, only thinking of how the redhead is currently sticking close to her guardian being.

"Humph"

The group reached a clearing in the forest. It was roughly the size of the Vestri Court and in the middle was an abandoned house. The house was built from wood with a corroded stove. Next to it was a completely rundown warehouse.

The group hid behind the bushes and observed the house.

M'selle Longueville pointed to the house and said, "From the information I've gathered, that should be the place."

"Looks like no one is inside. Is Fouquet really hiding there?"

The group aside from Dante started discussing, using sticks to draw their battle plan on the ground. They agreed that ambushing him was the best way.

All the better if he was sleeping.

Firstly, they would need to scout around the house and know what is going inside. After that if Fouquet is inside, the scout will draw him out, because there is not enough earth inside the house for him to create an earth golem. Once outside, the rest would all cast their magic against him, without letting him have a chance to summon his golem.

"So who is going to lure him out?" Dante asked, instantly grasping their plan.

Tabitha replied, "The one with the best reflexes."

All stared at Dante.

"Me, huh?" Dante sighed. He drew out the sword that Kirche gave to him.

'As if this thing could do damage, but well...'

Dante casually walked closer to the house and peered through the window in the house.

There was only one room in the whole house, with a table and a reclining chair that were both covered in dust. There was also a bottle of wine on the table and in one corner of the room there was firewood.

There was no one inside and there did not seem to be any place to hide inside the house either.

Had he already left this place?

But their opponent is Fouquet, a triangle mage. So he may still be hiding inside even though there did not seem to be a hiding place inside.

So Dante decided to call everyone over.

Dante used his hand to make thumbs-up sign on top of his head, a sign that means the house is empty.

The rest of the group who were hiding carefully approached the house.

"There's no one inside," Dante said while pointing at the window.

Tabitha waved her staff at near the door and muttered, "There's no trap." She then opened the door and went inside the house.

Kirche and Dante followed suit and entered the house.

Louise told the rest she would stand guard and stayed behind.

M'selle Longueville said that she would investigate the area around the forest and disappeared.

Dante's group went into the house and started to look for any clues to Fouquet's whereabouts.

Then, Tabitha found inside a box...

The Staff of Destruction.

"The Staff of Destruction." Tabitha said while waving it around.

"Isn't this too easy?" Kirche exclaimed.

Dante looked at the Staff of Destruction and said, "Kirche, is this really the Staff of Destruction?"

Kirche nodded and said, "Unmistakably, I saw it once during my tour of the treasure vault.

Dante brought the staff closer and examined it closely. "If I'm not wrong this is a …"

Dante then recognized the said "staff" and smiled inwardly.

'Damn...'

Just then, Louise who was standing guard outside gave a chilling shriek. "Ahhhh!"'

"What happened, Louise?"

Just as everyone looked outside the house, a loud sound could be heard. Crack! Suddenly the house was without a roof and everyone looked up.

In place of the roof was a giant earth golem.

"It's an earth golem!" Kirche screamed.

This one looks a lot meaner than before.

Tabitha was the first to react. Waving her staff, she started chanting her magical inscriptions. A whirlwind appeared out of her staff and struck the golem.

After the whirlwind dissipated, the golem remained unscathed.

Following Tabitha, Kirche took out her wand hidden in her cleavage and started chanting.

A fireball shot out of her wand and engulfed the golem. Even though the whole golem was on fire, it did not seem to be affected by the fire at all.

"It's too tough for the few of us!" Kirche shouted.

"Retreat" Tabitha said softly.

Kirche and Tabitha went different ways and ran out of the house.

Meanwhile, Dante was looking for Louise.

"Over there!"

Louise stood behind the golem, chanted something and pointed her wand towards the golem.

Something exploded on the surface of the golem. It was Louise's magic! The golem realized this, turned around and faced Louise.

Dante, standing near the door of the house 20 mails away from Louise shouted, "Run, Kid!"

Louise refused, "No! If I subdue this, no one will ever call me Louise the Zero ever again." Louise appeared to be very serious. The golem tilted its head, pondering whether to deal with Louise or Kirche and Tabitha who were escaping.

"Look at the size difference between you and the golem! I'll handle that thing!"

"You'll never know if you don't try."

"Damn it, It's impossible at your level!"

Louise stared at Dante and said, "Haven't you said this before?"

"What?"

"It's about time I show off."

'What the heck, where did that line came from?' Dante thought.

"Yes... I did say that… "

"I feel the same way. Even though I cannot accomplish anything, this is a matter of pride. If I run away now, people will say, 'because she's Louise the Zero, that's why she ran away'."

"Does it matter? Let people say whatever they want!"

"But I'm a noble. Nobles are people that can use magic." Louise tightened her grip on her wand. "And nobles never turn their backs on their enemies."

The golem decided that it would deal with Louise first, it raised its leg, preparing to crush her.

Louise raised her wand towards the golem and started chanting again…

But it failed, even though Louise used 'fireball'.

She forgot to channel her natural element, in her haste.

Then a small explosion occurred on the golem's chest and small fragments of earth fell out from its chest. The golem was not affected by the attack at all.

Dante sighed, grabbed Rebellion and dashed towards Louise.

Louise saw the golem's foot getting nearer and nearer. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.

'Didn't you say it's time for you to show off?"

A staccato of gunshots peppered the golem in such force that the construct was actually forced to shield itself from the onslaught of bullets,

Meet one of the most favourite tools of Dante's trade, the overly customized .45 guns; Ebony and Ivory.

Shot after shot after shot, Dante pressed on his attacks as the golem if forced on the defensive, and tries to swat the devil hunter like a fly,

Unfortunately for it, Dante is much more agile than a fly, and even more annoying.

He fired his weapons in such speed that he is actually being lifted into the air by the guns' powerful recoil.

Whooping like a boy riding a rollercoaster, Dante kept on firing like a maniac, and in points he manages to double jump, using the demonic energy to create a platform in the air to jump from.

As a finale for his, gunslinger style, Dante triple jumps high above the golem, dives headfirst to his gigantic target, points the pistols, spins rapidly as he fired the guns, raining a storm of lead upon the enemy construct.

Taste the Rainstorm.

Those who are watching the spectacle unfold were unable to express the awe of what Dante has been showing them thus far.

'What the heck are those guns made of?" Kirche asked herself, as it looked like Dante never reloaded the weapon at all, and continuously fired at the golem.

Guns she knew of only shoots once before reloading.

And the rate Dante shoots are enough to bring down an entire army.

Though in the heat of danger, a different heat arose within her.

She would so want to spend wonderful nights with Dante , exploring him within and without.

The golem is getting its ass kicked, leaving it confused for a while.

At that instant, Dante approached her at the speed of a whirlwind, grabbed her and instantly sped away from the golem's stomps.

Dante gave a flick on Louise's forehead. flick!

"Do you really wish to die?"

Louise looked at Dante, stunned.

"To hell with your noble's pride! Once you die, nothing really matters anymore!"

Tears began to flow out of Louise's eyes like a waterfall.

'Crap, I made her cry.'

"But… but I cannot take this lying down… I'm always being treated like a fool by others…"

Looking at the crying Louise, Dante felt hapless.

He hated it when girls cry.

Being constantly called "Zero", being treated like an idiot, no one could take that lying down.

He recalled his fight with Guiche. Louise cried that time, too. Albeit that has something to do with how scary he was that time.

Even though Louise is stubborn and haughty, in reality she actually hates fighting and she's not good at it either.

She's only a girl… Louise's beautiful face was now covered in tears, just like a crying child.

'Damn it.' Dante cursed inwardly as he dodged the incoming stomps of the golem.

This was not the time to console her. Dante turned his head over and saw the golem raising its fists, ready to pound them.

"Can't you even console me a little?" Louise protested as Dante carried her and escaped.

"Sorry kid, consoling isn't one of my forte skills at the moment."

The golem chased after them, even though the golem was nowhere near agile, its speed was still on par with Dante, at the moment.

Tabitha's Wind Dragon landed in front of devil hunter to help in their escape.

"Get on." Tabitha said.

Dante placed Louise on the dragon's back.

"You too, quickly!" Tabitha said to Dante with urgency unlike her normal self.

"And miss all the fun? No thanks," Dante grinned as he suddenly disappeared from Tabitha's view.

"Fast." She breathed.

"Dante?" Louise shouted.

"Fly away now!" Dante shouted.

Tabitha stared at Dante emotionlessly for a while, and was forced to make Sylphid fly up as the golem was approaching them.

Bang!

The golem's fist smashed onto the place the devil hunter stood on.

Dante didn't even bother moving as he goes to a stance to block the golem's attack with his right hand.

A crater a meter wide was formed as the force of the golem's blow connected with the devil hunter.

Too bad for the construct that the attack was completely blocked.

Dante's using his Royalguard skill.

The golem removed its fist from the ground, its controller thinking that it has crushed its target.

Dante mumbled to himself,

'Don't cry if you can't take it lying down. Stupid kid! This really makes me feel like doing something for you!'

Dante faced the golem and said, "You don't look so big from where I'm standing. Show me what you got, you big pile of dirt! Bring it on!"

"Dante!" Louise attempted to jump down from Sylphid which was in mid air, but was grabbed by Tabitha.

"Please let me go to him!" Louise pleaded.

Tabitha shook her head.

"Impossible to get near."

Whenever Sylphid tried to get near, the golem would try to attack it. So Tabitha was not able to approach the devil hunter at all.

"Dante!" Louise shouted again.

Louise saw Dante casually doing fine in a stand-off against the golem.

Fist against Fist,

Louise wondered what sort of being Dante is...

The golem moved and threw a punch. In mid-flight the fist morphed into steel.

Dante saw this, and parried the attack with his palm.

BOOM! BOOM ! BOOM!

Resounding crashes echoed through the forest as the golem pounded the devil hunter who simply blocked the punches and stomps.

Dante carefully bided for time to strike.

Seeing Dante in a seemingly stalemate, Louise was desperate. Wasn't there anyway to help him? Just then, Louise noticed the "Staff of Destruction" held by Tabitha. The item is quite large and heavy for a magic staff, though a magic spell cast on it made it a lot lighter and easier to carry.

"Tabitha! Pass that to me!"

She nodded and passed the Staff of Destruction to Louise.

The Staff of Destruction had an unusual shape that Louise had never seen before.

But since Louise's magic did not work, all she could depend on now was the Staff of Destruction.

Louise closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening her eyes again she said, "Tabitha! Use levitation on me." And jumped off the Sylphid's back.

Tabitha hastily casted "Levitation" on Louise.

Under the effect of the spell, Louise slowly descended and facing Dante and the golem, waved the Staff of Destruction.

Nothing happened at all. There was no response from the Staff of Destruction.

"Is this really a magical staff?" Louise shouted urgently.

Were there any special requirements in order to activate it?

Dante looked at the descending Louise and sighed.

'Why did she come back? It would have been better for her to stay on the dragon!'

At the same time, Dante saw the Staff of Destruction that Louise was holding.

Looks like Louise did not know how to use the staff and she was just waving it around…

'For Pete's sake... That's not how to use it.'

BOOM!

Dante then suddenly unleashed the Royal Release, completely destroying the golem's left arm, leaving it stunned for the moment.

Dante rushed towards Louise, who's still waving the "staff" like crazy.

"What the heck are you thinking, Louise?" Dante berated the pinkette.

"Dante!" Louise shouted to Dante who suddenly appeared in front of her.

The devil hunter grabbed the Staff of Destruction away from Louise.

"I don't know how to use this!"

"It's supposed to be used like this!"

Dante grabbed hold of the Staff of Destruction, which is actually a weapon extremely close to him before, checked the safety as he looked over the missile rack.

'It's still in good condition.' Dante thought as he aimed the launcher at the now recovering golem.

But now this is not the time to think.

He flipped up the telescope sight on the tube and aimed.

Seeing his proficiency in handling the Staff of Destruction, Louise was too shocked to say anything.

Dante placed the Staff of Destruction on his shoulder and pointed the front of the staff towards the golem.

Due to the short distance between him and the golem, he decided to aim directly at the golem.

As the distance was very close, the arming range might not be attained and therefore even if hit directly, it might not explode, or worse the missile might even explode right in front of his face.

But then again this 'girl' has a tendency to do that now and then when he used it before.

'Forget about that, just try it!' Dante thought while shouting at Louise, "Don't stand behind the staff, there will be a back blast!"

Louise hurriedly moved out of the way.

The golem approached closer and closer to Dante.

"Say hello to my little friend!" Dante crowed.

Dante released the safety button and fired the weapon.

Immediately, a loud thunder came from the staff and a projectile with wings flew towards the golem.

The projectile met with the golem with a terrific explosion.

Dante just stood there and enjoyed that explosive moment, while the rest shielded themselves from the shockwave.

A deafening roar occurred and the upper body of the golem pulverized and flew out in all directions, causing a rain of earth.

The rest slowly opened their eyes.

As the smoke from the explosion cleared, only the lower body of the golem was left standing.

What was left, took one last step forward before it finally stopped moving, and knelt down.

Then slowly from the waist, it crumbled… and returned into what it originally was – dirt.

Just like last time, the golem was reduced into a mound of earth.

Louise, who witnessed everything, felt her legs weaken and sat on the floor.

Kirche, who was hiding near the bushes, came running out.

As he put down the weapon, Dante finally gave a sigh of relief.

Kirche hugged Dante and said, "Dante, My darling! You did it!"

Sylphid, who was carrying Tabitha, descended. Tabitha looked at the mound of earth and asked, "Where is M'selle Longueville?"

Just then everyone realized that M'selle Longueville was missing.

Just then M'selle Longueville came out from the forest.

"M'selle Longueville! Did you find out where Fouquet was controlling the golem from?" Kirche asked.

M'selle Longueville shook her head.

The four of them started searching the mound of earth for clues. Dante looked at them, and then looked at the Staff of Destruction, thinking to himself: Why did this thing appear in this world?

Just as he was thinking, M'selle Longueville took the missile launcher.

"M'selle Longueville..." said the exasperated Dante.

M'selle Longueville widened the distance between the group and then said,

"Great job, people!"

"M'selle Longueville!" Kirche shouted. "What's the meaning of this?"

Louise stared at M'selle Longueville, too shocked to say anything.

"The one controlling the golem was me all along."

"What? That means… You're…"

"Yup, she is…" Dante began to explain but was cut off with the next move the school secretary made.

M'selle Longueville removed her glasses, her once gentle expression had changed into one full of killing intent.

"Yes, I am Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt. The Staff of Destruction is really powerful; it actually can defeat my golem in just one hit!"

Fouquet held the Staff of Destruction on her shoulders like Dante did just now.

Tabitha waved her staff and began chanting.

"All of you don't move! I have the Staff of Destruction pointed towards you. Drop your wands now."

They had no choice but to obey. Without their wands, they could not cast any magic.

"M'sieu Agile Familiar, please drop your weapons, and just stay where you are. You don't want me to destroy your master to dust."

Dante shrugs but obeyed, keeping a close watch to what this woman planned on doing.

"Why?" Louise asked angrily.

"Hmm… I'd better explain to you all in order for you all to rest in peace." Fouquet said with a coquettish smile on her face.

"I had gotten hold of the Staff of Destruction, but I did not know how to use it."

"The way to use it?"

"Yes. No matter how I waved the staff or applied my magic on it, there was no response at all. That frustrated me. After all, if I do not know how to use it, it would be just as useful as a decorative item. Wouldn't it?"

Louise wanted to dash out towards Fouquet, but was stopped by Dante.

"Dante?"

"Let her finish."

"How considerate of you, M'sieu Familiar. Then I would continue. Since I did not know how to use it, the only way was to let other people show me how to use it."

"So therefore you brought us here." Dante deadpanned, looking at the thief with his arms crossed.

"If it's the students from the academy, there may be a chance that someone knows how to use the staff."

"If none of us knew how to use the Staff of Destruction, what would you do?"

"If that was the case, you all would be crushed by my golem. After that I would bring the next group of students here. But thanks to you, I finally know how to use the Staff of Destruction."

Fouquet smiled and said, "Even though the time spent with you all was short, I'm really happy. Goodbye."

Kirche feeling hopeless, closed her eyes.

Tabitha and Louise closed their eyes, too.

But Dante just grinned.

"You're really brave." Fouquet compliments the devil hunter.

"Well, actually it's not bravery." Dante replied, as he took a step forward, "I'm just that cool."

Fouquet pressed the trigger as Dante had done before.

Then Kalina Ann launches another rocket.

This time, towards the Dante's group.

Dante then does the inexplicable; he actually rushed towards the rocket in blinding speeds.

He then leaped, landed and actually rode the rocket surfer style. The rest of the group goes bug-eyed at the scene.

All the while Dante laughs like a kid at play as he deftly shifted the direction of the projectile away from the girls and gets it to explode harmlessly in the air, leaving those watching the devil hunter in a state of shock and awe, which included Fouquet.

"Dodge this then." Fouquet hissed as she is about to press the trigger again, this time aiming at the vermillion coated man, while he's still 100 mails in mid-air.

"I don't think so." As Dante flicked his coin towards the thief and hits the safety button of the weapon, rendering it useless.

"Huh? How? Why?" Fouquet shouted deliriously, as she pressed the trigger but the launcher won't fire at all.

Dante lands two steps in front of Fouquet, who is fumbling with the launcher.

"Even if I explained, you would not be able to understand how that works. That is not a magical staff from your world." Dante states boredly,

"What did you say?" Fouquet dropped the Staff of Destruction and took out her own wand.

Dante moved as fast as lightning, delivering a blow to Fouquet's stomach with his fist.

"This is a weapon from my world. To be precise, it's named Kalina Ann; a friend of mine's personal rocket launcher."

Fouquet fell onto the ground, unconscious.

Dante then picked up his coin and the Kalina Ann, inspected it for damages, but thankfully he found none.

'But the implications of this...Seems like the situation is even deeper than I imagined.' Dante thought,

"Dante?" Louise and the other two all stared at him.

Dante answered as he turned to them grinning, "We've caught Fouquet and retrieved the Staff of Destruction. So, can we go now?"

Louise, Kirche and Tabitha looked at each other, and then ran towards the devil hunter.

Dante was glomped and hugged by the three girls together,

He is just glad that the girls are safe.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Notes:

Mail - Length / height - measures roughly close to one meter... by how much... : )


	8. Miss 7 Debriefings, Kissing and the Show

All Hail to the Queen!

I REALLY LOVE THIS BAND!

Not much to rant, I'm just hoping this tale will go somewhere….

Let'g begin…

Mission 8 : On Debriefings, Kissing and the Show.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Fantasy Pic: Henrietta in Trish's costume, posing as she aims Luce and Ombra at you.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Inside the headmaster's office, Headmaster Osman listened to the group's account of what happened.

"Hmm… So M'selle Longueville is Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt… Because she's such a beauty I did not think twice about hiring her as my secretary."

"How did you go about hiring her?" M'sieu Colbert who was also present asked.

"In a tavern. I was a customer while she was a waitress there. Where I slowly caressed her from her hands down to her buttocks…"

"Then what happened?" Msieu Colbert asked again, sure that the method Old Osmond used is the NOT best way to hire a competent employee.

Headmaster Osman embarrassingly confessed, "Because she wasn't angry at all after what I did, I asked her whether she wanted to become my secretary or not."

"Why?" The bewildered M'sieu Colbert continued asking.

"Anyways!" Headmaster Osman cried out using vigor unfitting for an old man.

Osman started coughing. And said sedately, "And she could use magic, too."

"Yeah, magic that could kill." M'sieu Colbert mumbled to himself.

Headmaster Osman coughed again then told M'sieu Colbert in a prudent manner, "Come to think of it, the reason that Fouquet allowed me to touch her all over the place, served me wine happily, and praised that I was handsome man, while I was in the tavern, was just to infiltrate the academy. All those praises were most probably just lies…"

M'sieu Colbert upon hearing that immediately remembered that he was also bewitched by Fouquet once, and had revealed the weakness of the vault walls to her.

M'sieu Colbert decided that he would take that secret with him to his grave.

"Yes. Beautiful women are deadly mages."

"I couldn't agree more with you, Colbert."

Dante nods sagely at the statement.

Louise, Kirche and Tabitha stared blankly at the three.

Realizing that the students had given them the cold stare, the embarrassed Osman cleared his throat and regained his solemn composure.

"A job well done for all of you, you have returned the Staff of Destruction and captured Fouquet."

The three besides Dante acknowledged proudly.

"Fouquet will be handed over to the town guards, and the Staff of Destruction will be returned back to the treasure vault. Finally the case is closed."

Gently caressing each of the trio's heads, Osman said, "I have requested the imperial court to confer upon you the title of Chevalier, I believe that we should have news of it soon. And since Tabitha already has the title of chevalier, I have requested that she be given the Elven Medallion."

The trio's faces brightened up upon hearing the news.

"Really?" Kirche said astoundingly.

"Yes. You have done more than enough to deserve this title. Haven't you?"

Louise gazed at Dante who was in deep thought since they entered the office.

"Headmaster Osman, is Dante… won't get anything?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. Because he's not a noble…"

Dante replied, "Don't sweat it guys, just take this as a free service from me."

Headmaster Osman gently clapped his hands and said, "I almost forgot, Tonight's Familiar Presentation will resume as planned since we have gotten back the Staff of Destruction.

Kirche's face brightened up. "That's right. Let's forget about Fouquet and party all night long after the contest!"

"The main attraction of the this presentation will be you three. So go get ready and dress up!"

The three bowed, and left through the door.

Louise stopped and looked at the devil hunter.

"You go first." Dante told Louise, smiling.

Even though Louise was still worried, she nodded and left the room.

Osman turned to Dante and said, "You have something to ask me?"

Dante turns serious and nodded.

"Please ask. I'll try to answer your question to the best of my abilities. Even though I couldn't confer you a title, this is the least I can do to show my appreciation."

Immediately after, he asked M'sieu Colbert to leave the room. M'sieu Colbert, who was waiting for Dante to speak, was expressing displeasure as he exited the room.

After M'sieu Colbert left, Dante said, "That, the Staff of Destruction was originally from my world."

Osman's eyes gleamed. "Originally from your world?"

"I'm not from this world."

"Is this true?"

"It's true. I was transported to this world due to Louise's summoning."

"I see. If that's the case…" Osman squinted his eyes.

"The Staff of Destruction was a weapon from my world. Who was the person who brought it to this world?"

Osman sighed and said, "The one who gave the Staff of Destruction was my savior."

"Where is the person now? That person is definitely from the same world as me."

"He died. That was over thirty years ago…"

'He? So it was not Lady who brought the Kalina Ann here, hmm...it could be one of her men.'

"What did you say?"

"Thirty years ago, while I was strolling inside the forest, I was attacked by a two headed dragon. The one who saved me was the owner of the Staff of Destruction. He used the Staff of Destruction to kill the two headed dragon and then collapsed. He was already injured at that time. I transported him to the academy and treated his wounds. But to no avail…"

"And he died?"

Headmaster Osman nodded.

"I buried him in the forest, while the Staff of Destruction he used to kill the dragon; I kept it inside the vault in order to commemorate my savior…"

Osman gazed far away and said, "While he was resting on the bed till the day he died, he kept saying repeatedly 'Where is this place? I want to go back to my world.' I guess that he must be from the same world as yours."

'Well, not exactly,' Dante thought.

"Who was the one who brought him to this world then?" he asked aloud

"I don't know. Right till the end, I still had no idea how he ended up here."

'Damn it! Just when I thought that I had something here.' Dante cussed himself. This particular information did not prove anything other than the incident of world crossings tend to be a lot more complicated than he expected.

Osman's savior was most probably one of his Devil slayers Lady worked with. But how did he end up in this world? Even though Dante wanted to know badly, there was no way to know anymore.

Osman held the devil hunter's right hand, "The runes on your hand…"

"Oh yes. I wanted to ask about that, too. What does this actually mean?"

Osman pondered for a moment and said, "…That I know. That is the runes of "Windálfr", the legendary familiar."

"The runes of the legendary familiar?"

"Yes. Windálfr was a legendary familiar who could use and control any magical creature at will."

Dante was confused. "…Then, why am I the legendary familiar?"

"I don't know." Osman quickly replied, and paused thoughfully, he then continued,

"I'm sorry. But there is a possibility that the runes of Windálfr are related to you being transported to this world."

The explanation didn't make sense, so the devil hunter tries another approach,

"There's something else..." Dante said, as he removed his hand from the old man's grasp.

"What is it then?"

"What do you know of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda?"

"Who's that?"

"Don't give me that 'I don't know' crap." Dante snapped at the old man, his eyes flickered red in an instant.

Silence

Then the old man grinned in the likes Dante has never seen before...

"As expected from someone with the bloodline of Sparda..." Osmond said, hobbling back towards his desk.

"So you do know of him,"

"Of course, I travelled with him before. So may I ask, how are you related to him?" Osmond asks

"He's my father."

"Ah, I see. Since you managed to figure this much out, I suppose I'll answer some of your questions..."

"Never mind."

A serious discussion was held behind closed doors...

Later...

"I'm sorry that I could not be of much help on your case as of yet. Just remember, I'll always be on your side, M'sieu Dante!" Osman tried to hug him but Dante evades.

"I guess, I could take my time."

"I must thank you once again for bringing back the possession of my benefactor."

"It's all right…" The devil hunter said tiredly.

Dante already has the original copy of the weapon before anyway...

"That's all I know of the current situation you're in. Anyways, I'm quite sure, you'll get used to this world as time goes by. Maybe by then you could find a wife here too…"

"That's the last thing I'll ever need."

Dante sighed again.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

After giving the lovesick Kirche the slip, Dante returns to Louise's dorm to discuss their presentation…

"Are you serious!"

"Yup, I need you to be on stage to perform with me."

"BB-But I Don't know what to do. What will I do?"

"This." Dante just flicks the pinkette on the forehead, as a flash of light which accompanied it indicated that is no mere forehead flick.

"H-h-how shameful." Louise couldn't help but react at the revelation.

"But this will bring them down on their knees, Am I right?"

Louise just smiled in anticipation.

Before they could actually proceed to the grounds, a soft knocking came to the door. Louise glanced at Dante and he knew that he would have to answer it for her, since Louise is trying to reach for the cloak to cover herself and her costume.

Dante walked over to the door casually.

Undoing the lock, he opened the door to greet whoever was on the side but the devil hunter couldn't get even one word out before someone in a concealing cloak forced their way inside.

"Who are you?" Louise demanded, standing up straight up from her bed.

"It's been a while," the sudden guest murmured, the voice revealing the figure to be female.

And what a figure it is,

Louise blinked in confusion.

The mysterious woman seemed to shiver before she leaped at Louise, much to both their shocks before the woman trapped Louise inside a powerful and obviously loving hug.

The cloak came loose in her rush and fell away.

Much to his surprise, as if the hug wasn't enough, the woman who was hugging Louise so closely was none other than the princess Henrietta herself!

Dante recognized her from the numerous posters scattered throughout town.

"Louise Francoise!" the princess cried happily, clutching the pinkette tightly.

"Y-Your Highness!" Louise gasped out, her jaw dropping in surprise.

After a moment of being surprised, she managed to gently slip her way out of the princess' embrace before bowing on her knee. "Please do not embrace a lower-class person like me or bother yourself by coming to a place like this on your own."

"Oh Louise Francoise, please don't be so formal when we are alone," the princess smiled softly. "We're friends."

"You are so kind to one such as me," Louise smiled, likely the most honest and wholesome smile Dante has seen on her since the devil hunter had met her.

"Ehem, for those of us are apparently not up to date," Dante spoke up, still leaning at the now shut door.

"I take it that you two know each other from somewhere, right?"

"Right," Louise sighed, standing up and gesturing at the princess. "I had the honor of being selected as a royal playmate when both the princess and I were younger."

"Can you not say we were childhood friends?" asked Henrietta, gazing longingly at Louise with her eyes misting up. "I…I missed you so very much."

"Princess," Louise murmured, stepping closer to see if she could comfort her monarch.

"I'm sorry," Henrietta sighed, wiping her eyes. "It is just ever since my father passed away, I have not had anyone I can talk openly with."

Dante watched with amusement as Louise and Henrietta reconnect after apparently a long time of being separated. After a moment of the two speaking softly to one another,

Henrietta seemed to notice of the Devil Hunter and flushed slightly before looking back to Louise, "Please forgive my intrusion though. I seem to have interrupted a moment between you and your lover."

"LOVER?-!" Louise cried out.

Dante just shook his head at the statement.

Although he was fully sheathed, Dante was pretty sure that he could hear Derflinger laughing at the insinuation.

'I'd get him for that later.' He swore inwardly.

"No! No! No! No!" Louise cried, waving her hands in a panic while Dante just looked away, whistled a tune with his hands in his pockets from the statement they just heard.

Not that Louise wasn't attractive, but her attitude half the time was a turn off.

And Dante's not a lolicon. Just, so you know.

"He's my Guardian your highness! My Magical Partner!"

"Your Guardian and not your lover?" Henrietta blinked. "You two seem so close though."

"As if I would lower myself to be a lover of a commoner!" Louise huffed, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks.

"You just keep on forgetting don't ya?" Dante grinned ferally.

"Commoner she calls me," he sighed, ignoring Derflinger's further chuckling.

'That sword is itching for a one way trip to the forge.' Dante eyebrow twitched.

To be honest, the sword must have wanted to come with Dante for laughs.

"She keeps calling me that way. After all she has seen."

"Ah! You are actually a noble?" Henrietta asked.

Both looked at Princess Henrietta and Louise's face lit up in embarrassment for arguing in front of her while her guardian mostly ignored her.

"Well, no," Dante answered. "I'm not a noble. I just happen to be just good at odd jobs at best." he adds, "And I happen to be the best at it as well."

Deciding to change the subject before Louise got any other ideas of breaking in a violent manner a question which had been bugging him for a while. "So, Your Highness, what brings you here tonight?" he asked. There had to be a reason for her to make a late night visit and in disguise to boot.

"I simply wished to visit a dear friend," smiled Henrietta.

"Your Highness, I am not worthy…" began Louise.

"Please, Louise, why not call me by my old childhood nickname?" requested the princess gently.

"Alright, Anne…" Louise answered, blushing. I couldn't deny it at this point; she looked so cute like that.

"I suppose you'll both be competing later," said the princess. "And I see that she has summoned a fine being to look after her. It puts my mind at ease to know she has someone dedicated like yourself to be at her side." She looked to him. "Forgive me, but I forgot to ask for your name, M'sieu…"

"I'm Dante, odd jobs man," he answered bowing at her.

Henrietta didn't notice the subtle exchange between Dante and Louise, and she began speaking in a cheerful voice.

"Dependable Sir Guardian."

"Yes?"

After Henrietta called him dependable, Dante smirked inwardly, still keeping a stoic visage.

"Naw, that's too much. Just treat me normally."

"Please keep taking care of my most precious friend."

And then she gently held out her hand. A handshake? he thought, but the back of her hand was turned upwards. What sort of gesture was this?

Louise spoke up with an astonished voice.

"That won't do! Princess! To offer your hand to him!"

"It is alright. This person will be acting for my sake, and without a reward, I won't have his loyalty."

"Ah..."

'Offering a hand? The way someone does to a dog? Is that how you treat your dogs?' Dante thought quirking an eyebrow.

Dante stopped and tilted his head to the side in a questioning manner, looking at Louise.

He hasn't grasped how to deal with human royalties, as most royalties he met were demonic ones, which were annihilated by him.

"That's not it. Ooh, this is why ..., a commoner who doesn't know anything. When she offers her hand, it means you can kiss her. That's saying it plainly."

'My, my...how aggressive...' Dante thought.

Dante's eyebrow rose up. He'd never thought that he'd be allowed to kiss a princess or anyone from royalty at all.

Henrietta smiled sweetly at Dante.

His smile appeared stoic to other people, but Dante was thinking, 'I'd love to?' To be liked by such a princess wouldn't be half bad, he thought.

Dante grinned deliberately at Louise. Louise muttered under her breath and turned her face away.

'Somehow, this felt rather embarrassing….'

Dante caught Henrietta's hand, and then firmly pulled her to close to him.

"Eh?"

Henrietta absentmindedly opened her mouth in surprise. Then before they could blink, Dante pushed his lips against Henrietta's.

"Mmph..."

What tender, tiny lips they were. Henrietta's eyes opened widely into circles.

The circles went white. The strength left Henrietta's body, and, slipping through Dante's hands, she fell to the bed.

"Oops."

'Ah, Royalty never tasted this good,'

"What are you doing to her highness? You d-d-d-devil!"

"What? She asked for it." He shrugged.

When Dante turned around, the bottom of Louise's shoe was flying towards him.

Dante took Louise's jump kick in the face and tumbled to the floor.

Well, he could let her get away with this. For now.

"What was that for?" Dante asked, getting peeved.

When Dante said that, Louise stamped angrily on his face.

"It was on her hand she gave you permission to kiss, the back of her hand! A kiss on the back of the hand! Why'd you give her an all-out kiss on the lips?"

Louise was so mad, it looked like she was going to catch fire.

"How should I know? I don't know anything about your rules here."

As his face was getting trampled, Dante spread his hands and spoke plainly.

Getting stepped on was something Dante had experience with, aside from getting bitten, eaten, stabbed, shot, and a bunch of other things that could actually kill a lesser man.

"Y-y-y-you, you, you devil..."

Ah, so true.

Louise's voice began trembling in fury.

Henrietta rose from the bed while shaking her head. Louise rushed to kneel beside her. She then grabbed Dante's head and pushed it down to the bed.

"I-I'm sorry! My guardian's misconduct, is my own misconduct! And you say it, too! Apologize!"

'The ever-prideful Louise was apologizing to someone else besides me. On top of that, she was shaking all over. If I don't do what she says, she'll probably give me hell for it later.' Dante chuckled inwardly.

'Might as well as give her a bit of free rein here.'

"Sorry. I only did it since you said to me that I could kiss you."

"And where can you find someone who would go for the lips when they hear that?" Louise asked.

"I had known a lot."

Louise struck Dante with her fist.

He didn't budge.

Then Louise suddenly assaults Dante with a sweep, causing the devil hunter to lose his footing and fall flat on his back.

'So Louise has been trained in the art of fighting too?' Dante asks himself.

He wonders who could it be...

Then she stamped stamped on Dante's head and ground it against the floor.

"I-it's alright. Loyalty must be rewarded, after all."

Henrietta bowed her head, giving real effort to appear calm.

At that time, there was a knock on the door.

"Y-y-yes?" Louise croaked as she frantically casted lock to the door.

The voice belonged to someone who had dueled with Dante before, Guiche de Gramont.

"Master Dante, it's time for the show to start."

"We'll be there." Dante answered for the girl, now fully composed.

That broke the weird atmosphere as the princess pulled herself together and goes toward the door after making sure that Guiche is gone.

"I wish you both luck at the later exhibition then, Louise and Dante."

Then she took one last look at Dante,

She actually blushed, and Dante found her loveliness increased the more…

"You should know this, but that was the best kiss I ever had."

With a dainty wave, she refastened her disguising cloak and exited the room with very little fanfare.

That left Louise and Dante by themselves once again. Louise is in shock at the statement….

'Yeah, I'm good.'

"Nice lady," Dante smiled. "I can see why people are so taken with her."

"For once I agree," Louise nodded weakly, trying to remove the shock,

as she now focused on the task at hand.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Sometime later... Henrietta's carriage...

Henrietta closed the curtains, and deeply sighed, losing the rose-like smile that she just sent to the crowds. All that was left was distress and deep melancholy unbecoming of her age. The Princess is 17 this year. With a slim figure, light blue eyes, high nose, she is an eye catching beauty. Her slender fingers played with her crystal staff. As of Royal blood, she is, of course, a mage.

Neither the cheers along the road nor the flowers flying in the air could cheer her up. She seemed to be holding deep political and romantic anxieties.

Sitting beside her, Mazarin watched her while playing with his beard. Wearing a hat like that of a priest and a grey formal suit, he was a slim and frail man of forty-some years old. His hair and beard have already grown white, and even his fingers looked like skin on bones, creating an appearance far too old for his age. Ever since His Majesty died, his iron grip on both foreign relations and internal politics have considerably aged him.

He just left his carriage and entered the Princess's.

He wanted to talk about politics, but the Princess only sighed, and paid no attention.

"That is your thirteenth time today, Your Majesty." Mazarin noted, annoyed and concerned.

"Hmm? What?"

"That sighing. Those of royalty shouldn't do that all the time in front of their subordinates."

"Royalty? What?" Henrietta was shocked. "Aren't you the King of Tristain? Doesn't Your Highness know about his rumors on the streets?"

"I am not aware." Mazarin replied indifferently. He was lying. He knew about everything in Tristain, and even Halkeginia, down to the amount of scales on the fire dragons living in the volcanoes. He knew all about it. He just pretended that he didn't.

"Then let me tell you. Tristain's Royal family has beauty, but not its scepter. Cardinal, you're the one holding the scepter. Bird's bones wearing a gray hat..."

Mazarin blinked. The words 'bird's bones' coming out of the Princess stung. "Please don't speak of commoners' rumors so carelessly..."

"Why not? They're just rumors. I'll marry the King of Germania as you told me to."

"We can't help that. An alliance with Germania is extremely important to Tristain." said Mazarin.

"That I know."

"Your Majesty understands the rebellion being carried out in that 'White Country' Albion under those idiots? Those people can't seem to tolerate the existence of royalty in Halkeginia." He frowned.

"Impolite, unrefined imbeciles! They're trying to hang that poor prince! Even if the entire world can forgive their actions, Founder Brimir shall not forgive them. I wouldn't forgive them."

"Indeed. However, Albion's nobility has unsurpassed power. The Albionian Royal Family might not even survive tomorrow. One of Founder Brimir's three bestowed royalties is going to fall, just like that. Meh... countries that cannot solve their own internal strifes have no right to exist."

"The Albionian Royal Family is nothing like Germania's. They're all my relatives. You have no right to say that even as Cardinal."

"I humbly apologize. I will ask for forgiveness from Founder Brimir before I go to bed tonight. However, what I just said is the truth, Your Majesty."

Henrietta only sadly shook her head. Even that gesture radiated her beauty.

"Word is that those stupid Albionian nobles have the gall to declare how they're going to unite all of Halkeginia as one. It certainly seems like those people would set their sights at Tristain after extinguishing their royalty. If it really turns out like that, it would be too late if we don't take steps to prepare right now." Mazarin severely explained to Henrietta. She looked out the window, pretending to pay no attention. "Reading the opponent's actions and countering it at the first available opportunity is true politics, Your Majesty. If we can create an alliance with Germania, then we can create a covenant to counter Albion's new government, and ensure this little country's survival."

Henrietta continued to sigh. Mazarin opened the curtain and looked outside, and saw the shadow of his pride. A young, breathtakingly sharp-looking noble, sporting a feather-hat and long beard, marched with the convoy outside. A medal of a griffin fastens his black cape, and one look on his mount shows why. It had an eagle's head, wings, and talons, and it had a lion's body and hind legs. A griffin.

This man is the leader of one of three Mage Guard divisions, the Griffin Knights, Captain Lord Wardes. His division is the most memorable amongst the entire Mage Guard, and especially to Mazarin. Wielding formidable magical prowess, the Mage Guard is organized through extremely selective trials amongst nobles, and each member rides a magical beast to his division's name. They are the Tristainian symbols of fear and pride.

"You summoned me, Your Highness?" Wardes's eyes twinkled, and approached the carriage window on his griffin. The window slowly opened. Mazarin looked out.

"Wardes-kun, Her Majesty is feeling depressed. Can you get something for us that can cheer her up?"

"Understood." Wardes nodded, and observed the road with the gaze of an eagle. He quickly found a small section of the street, and had his griffin head there. Pulling out his long staff from his waist, he chanted a short spell, and briskly waved it. A small gust erupted from the ground, collecting all the petals strewn on the ground into Wardes' hands. He returned to the carriage with the bouquet, and presented it to Mazarin. Mazarin stroked his beard, and suggested, "May Captain please present this to Her Majesty yourself?"

"That would truly be a great honor." Wardes saluted, and turned to the other side of the carriage. The window slowly opened, Henrietta extended a hand to receive it, and showed her left hand to him. Wardes emotionally held her left hand, and lightly kissed it.

Still quite upset, Henrietta asked, "What is your name?"

"Your Majesty's Mage Guard, Griffin Knights leader, Lord Wardes." He gratefully lowered his head and replied.

"A model of nobility. How very fine of you."

"I am merely a lowly servant for Your Majesty."

"There have been fewer nobles who would say this lately. When Grandfather was still alive, oh my... under the great Philippe III's reign, the whole nobility shared that kind of marvelous chivalry."

"Sad times nowadays, Your Majesty."

"May I expect your sincerity when I get in such upsetting times again?"

"When that happens, no matter where I am, in battle or in the skies, no matter what I must leave behind, I will run over to serve Your Majesty."

Henrietta nodded. Wardes saluted once again, and left the carriage's side.

"Is that noble quite capable?" she asked Mazarin.

"Lord Wardes. His runic name is 'Lightning.' Even the 'White Country' can only boast of few people who can prove to be a match against him."

"Wardes... I think I've heard of that place before."

"I think that is close to Lord Vallière's territory."

"Vallière?" Henrietta's memory came to being, and she nodded. That name is now in their destination, the Magic Academy.

"Cardinal, do you remember the name of the noble that caught Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Aren't you about to knight them soon?" Henrietta was shocked.

Mazarin was uninterested. "I think it's high time for knighting rules to change. One needs to serve in the military to deserve that. How can the title of a knight be so easily given away for arresting a thief? Either way, it seems we would be fighting Albion with Germania soon, and it will not be a good idea to lose our nobles' loyalty due to jealousy."

"You made a lot of decisions without me knowing."

Mazarin did not reply. Continuing to mumble, Henrietta remembered that the name Vallière was among the nobles who caught Fouquet. It will all work out, Henrietta thought, and calmed down.

Mazarin looked at the Princess. "Your Majesty, it seems that there is some... instability between the Royal Court and part of the nobility."

Henrietta shook.

"Something about intervening in the Princess's marriage, and destroying our alliance with Germania."

Cold sweat dripped from Henrietta's forehead.

"You have not been exposed to them, have you, Your Majesty?"

After a length of silence, Henrietta replied annoyingly, "...No."

"I'll take Your Majesty's word for it then."

"I am the Princess. I do not lie." Henrietta breathed a sigh of relief.

"...your fourteenth time, Your Majesty."

"Just something in my mind. All I can do is sigh now."

"As royalty, your country's stability comes before your feelings."

"I'm like that all the time." Henrietta replied apathetically. She looked at the flowers in her hands, and said dejectedly, "...are flowers on the road not a blessing, Cardinal?"

"All I know is a flower picked to a person's hands is the flower's blessing."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Meanwhile, the event grounds

Preparations for the festival were already underway with the stage set up. The chairs were beginning to fill up with spectators and guests all wanting to get a good seat so they could see the performances. The students and Familiars were to perform on an elevated stage which had enough space for them to do whatever they needed to do. For me, it was barely big enough for the show I had intended. While they waited, students were doing some last minute preparations with their Familiars, adding new tricks in some cases. Louise and Dante spotted Guiche with his mole Familiar and approached him so to see how he is doing. As soon as the blonde saw the coming duo his eyes widened in recognition, terror, and deep respect.

"H-how may I be of your service, Master?" the blonde youth trembled as he nearly prostrated in front of the two.

"Relax," the crimson hunter said calmly, "I'm not here for your lecture."

"Ah…I see…" said Guiche, wiping some sweat off his brow. "What can I do for you both?"

"We're just here to see how are you doing," Louise stated, not quite sure how to make of what the heck will the young man do his presentation.

"But of course, as you can see I'm just fine!" the fop beamed with a twirl of his rose.

Dante thought Guiche was greatly relieved to hear that he won't be dealing lessons on manhood at the moment.

It was the most painful training the boy ever received in his life, and that was just warm ups.

"But for Master to be concerned of this humble person, I'm so touched." Guiche sniffed, wiping his tears with a laced handkerchief, probably acquired from his lady friends.

'Humble my ass.' Dante thought, as he idly observed the gathering crowd in front of the stage.

He definitely needs more training to get his ass straightened out. Guiche...

"Good luck to you then, DJ." Dante said, as the two take their leave. (Don Juannabe)

"I will do my best, Sir."

The way he was standing ramrod straight with his jaw clenched and hands tightened into fists kind of made the image obvious.

Whenever Dante Called him DJ, its a name Dante gave him whenever they train, and it meant a train of painful regimen of exercises said to increase his core strength.

Eventually everyone including Princess Henrietta was in attendance and soon the Familiar Exhibition began.

A lot of the students were pulling out all of the stops. Kirche had Flame shoot flaming patterns from his mouth. Montmorency had her toad croak along to a song she played on a violin. The boy with the owl Dante saw before had his familiar fly through the air with a glowing streamer behind it to create intricate afterimage patterns. Guiche simply struck poses with his mole on a bed of roses, something which seemed to set off his fans rather well, but make Montmorency look like she was about to go on a killing spree.

Then came their turn to give a show.

"Ready Kid?" Dante asks the cloaked pinkette

"Ready as I'll ever be." She muttered as her visage is hidden by the cloak.

"Let's go then..."

Dante strides confidently towards the center of the stage, wearing only his newly tailored red twin-tailed longcoat over his bare, well sculpted torso, black loose pants and combat boot, and his snow white hair brushed down. It's an ensemble he used when he was much younger and just started with his devil hunting business.

"Ladies and gentlemen, and most especially to Her Highness, Princess Henrietta, we would like to entertain you with a musical number. This is a music made by royalty for royalty. Enjoy."

Stage Darkens as the crowd anticipates what will the presentation be like.

Especially when this came from the rumored heroes who captured the infamous thief.

Then a sound could be heard from the darkness. A stomp and clap.

*Boom Boom Clap

*Boom Boom Clap

Louder...

*Boom Boom Clap

Louder...

*Boom Boom Clap

And even louder it went...

The sound combo though never heard before, the crowd instantaneously connected to it as if the beat is the sound of their collective hearts beating in synch.

The next moment, the crowd themselves are stomping and clapping along with the beat,

Princess Henrietta joins the crowd participation as well.

A new sound accompanies the beat, which sounded like a lute but much, much louder, metallic and distorted.

Then the spot light turns on pointed at the lone figure on stage, and the crowd sees the crimson coated hunter playing an instrument that looks like an oversized purple lute and has a bat wings as motiff,

Audience meets the Devil Arm Nevan for the first time.

The guitar riff continues to be heard along with the beat

*Boom Boom Clap

*Boom Boom Clap

*Boom Boom Clap

*Boom Boom Clap

Nevan silences, as Dante pulls a microphone out of thin air and confidently swaggers to the edge of the stage.

*Boom Boom Clap

*Boom Boom Clap

*Boom Boom Clap

The source initial beats came from a large box shaped ornately designed speakers connected to the restored IPOD, meet the Devil Arm Kulyog, named after an ancient God of Thunder it is a battle drum, turned HIFI Boombox just for this occasion.

Dante takes a look at the cloaked Louise, still hidden in the stage curtains stage left.

The devil hunter then plays the riff with Nevan, which happily complied giving off the most entrancing rock music ever heard for the first time in this world.

The music combines with the beat once more; and Dante opens his mouth and sang in the closest rendition he could of one of his all time favourite songs.

We will we will rock you

We will we will rock you

We will we will rock you

Buddy youre a boy make a big noise

Playin in the street gonna be a big man some day

You got mud on yo face

You big disgrace

Kickin your can all over the place

We will we will rock you

We will we will rock you

Although the crowd has never heard of the lyrics before, they seemed to be able to at least grasp the chorus as Dante coaxed them to join in the singing.

This particular song has some sort of, tribal energy stronger than in any other modern/pop song even in Dante's world, the Human world the timeless song still stirs the feelings of those who heard it...

And the crowd cheered Dante on as he skilfully played and sang the chorus, one more time.

'It's time.' Dante thought.

Dante signals Louise to come out, and the pinkette nods.

Louise slowly and gracefully walks towards the stage, still wearing the cloak. And upon reaching the center stage, Dante throws the microphone spinning towards her.

She expertly caught the mic and in one smooth move she casts off her cloak aside

And the male crowd goes wild at what they saw.

The young mage is wearing something similar to one of Lady's later garbs, a white body hugging frilled blouse, a brown checkered short skirt and tall thigh high black boots. And she wears a huge trailing big cape that flapped with the blowing wind. She looked the part of the badass rocker lead, in an adorable way.

She continued the rest of the Song with her cute but powerful voice.

Buddy you're a young man hard man

Shoutin' in the street gonna take on the world some day

You got blood on yo' face

You big disgrace

Wavin' your banner all over the place

Dante and the rest of the audience sang along with the chorus

We will we will rock you

We will we will rock you

Louise:

Buddy you're an old man poor man

Pleadin' with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day

You got mud on your face

You big disgrace

Somebody better put you back in your place

Together with Dante and the audience:

We will we will rock you

We will we will rock you

Then Dante rocks out with the outro riffs with Louise casting floating balls of light throughout the stage

As the music comes to an end, Dante powerslides across the stage and sent the Nevan's last notes echoing with his shred.

The non-leathal Shock Reverb ends the song.

The audience falls silent...

Dante and Louise, drenched in sweat after performing all out, stood at the center stage once more to receive the audience's rating...

One by one, each of the audience stood and gave the duo a standing ovation...

Louise was speechless; the applause filled her heart with joy she never felt before.

This proved to them once more that she could be good at something,

She then looked at her partner; the devil hunter who just calmly took the scene in stride.

"It's your night kid, enjoy it while you can." Dante pats her head, brother-like.

Tears seemed to form before the pinkette's eyes as she trembled to hold it back.

No choice then.

With tears flowing down her cheeks, she raised her fist in the air and cried a heartfelt "THANK YOU!" to the audience.

The audience only applauded louder.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Notes:

A rather low key presentation, I was planning something crazier but decided against it, but there's a reason why Dante doesn't show much of his power to a lot of people... especially the true power of the Devil Arms... : )... for me to know... for you to find out later... LOVE AND PEACE!...

Coming Up: Hoping To See more Action? How about some Non Stop Climax Action? I do hope I could pull it off...Then again, Louise's folks might come for a visit... : b


	9. Mission 8 : A Cool Bribe and a Mission

Authors rant…

If you're wondering if this tale will continue… It'll still live on… I haven't started yet to unravel the plot. : P

If I'm writing to get credits, I'd should've been writing to earn instead of fanfics, then again I have no talent in producing moneymaking stories…

Sigh….

Dammit, I need a new and better job. Help ! XD

I'm trying to write and patch the story in skit-like, light novel-ish form, so sorry for suddenly instantaneously shifting scenes and the unevenness of the scenes, leaving you guys being stared down by a cute puppy emoticon… : P

As for the mail measurement... dammit, just imagine it as meters, well, I might be shifting it to the metric system once and a while, in the chronicler's P.O.V.

I'm keeping it…for novelty's sake : )

To avoid confusion : if the measurement is from a Halkeginian P.O.V, it's mail, if the contrary it's meters. Say it with me, a mail is a Hakeginian meter.

Maybe later, I'll just forego it... who knows.

I'm still learning this shit, so there…

Currently rip-roaring on towards the uncertain future,

zaberfang, GO!

And now time for something a bit mellow,

Let's begin,

／人◕ .◕人＼

Mission 9 : A Cool Bribe and a Mission

Excerpts from Brimmiere's chronicles;

In one of their battles, the Swords of Halkeginia and Sparda found themselves allies from the darkness in which… A woman clothed with the sun appears.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Fantasy Pic: Dante stand in a pose, hands in his pockets, wearing something similar to Saito Hiiraga's clothes from ZNT series, a Blue hooded parka, white sports shoes and blue jeans.

／人◕ .◕人＼

In an era indeterminate, a tall, handsome young man with icy blue eyes and slicked back white hair contemplatively leans on a tree trunk in a forest as he stares up into the starlit skies. The light of the twin moons of Hakeginia bathes the forest with a soft and dreamlike hue. He wears a purple Victorian outfit with white cravat, a large red jewel around his neck and a loose monocle on his left eye.

Leaning beside him is sheathed long sabre like weapon.

Louise then wondered, who this man is and why does he look like Dante…

Could he be?

Louise slept serenely that morning as she felt like the summer breeze is caressing her entire body.

'Myuh?'

Louise lazily opens her eyes into the glowing rising sun that is seen peeking from behind the Tristainian mountain range..

"Mnyah?"

'A grand view,' the pinkette thought, as she surveyed the scenery, as wisps of clouds pass through her as she goes up, and up, and up. She thought she could even see her home from up here.

Though one may be thinking that Louise may be dreaming of flying.

She isn't.

And fact of the matter is; a breeze will actually be blowing through you especially if you're being hurtling at more than 80 kilometers per hour upwards into the clouds….

She's launched up by the devil hunter into the sky in her nighties, as she won't wake up from her slumber in a normal way. Besides that, just to get back at her for the 'punishment 'she dealt with him a few days back... How she managed to sleep through most of the event remains a mystery.

Dante scanned for his victim into the sky as he counted,

"Three, two, one, and…."

"DAAAAANTEEEEEEEEEEE!" Louise half-angrily half- scared; screamed out as she realized the reality of the situation, she is at least a thousand mails up.

And that she reached the apex of her flight, after which she will be falling shortly…

"Yup. She's already awake." Dante said, who couldn't help but smirk at his deed.

'That's what you get for messing with me earlier.' Dante thought, as he remembered the pounding he received some time ago.

But then again, his mature self felt the act is stupid.

Derflinger moved from his scabbard and comments,

"Partner, you have issues…."

Yes, there's no denying it, it was pretty dumb idea. Dante contemplates this as he quickly rushed up to catch the rapidly falling Louise, in mid-air.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Later that morning...

"….."

A totally nervous-wrecked Louise just glared at the devil hunter as two walked through the corridors

"If you have something to say, just say it." Dante began,

"Humph."

"So I was a bit overboard with the..." Dante tries to explain,

Louise turns her face away from the Dante and walks off to class without another word, leaving Dante alone in the corridor.

Dante felt like an ass...

"What's wrong with M'selle Vallierre today?"

A female voice asks Dante from behind him, making look at the speaker.

It was Siesta, walking towards him as she holds a big basket, and by the looks of it, she's dressed in her simpler dark green work dress common among the city girls of Tristain.

"Let's just say she woke up from the wrong side of the bed today…" the sword Derflinger answered, and gave a snicker as it did.

Knowing Dante's recent bed rousing methods as of late, Siesta just shakes her head.

"No matter what she did to you, you shouldn't pick on her that much, M'sieu Dante. She's still a girl."

Siesta lectures the much older Dante on how to treat people and especially little girls better, the devil hunter actually felt awkward at the scene as he seem to be unable to give a witty comeback…

But it felt rather nostalgic in a way for some reason…

"Anyway, by the looks of it, you seem quite busy." Dante comments, as he tries to steer the subject clear from the berating he is receiving from the young maid.

"But before that, please apologize to Louise later, Okay?"

She didn't take the bait…

Dante will never hear the end of this unless…

"Alright, alright already, I'll apologize to her later." Dante surrendered, raising both his hands in resignation.

Siesta gave one of the loveliest smiles she had seen her do.

"Good. You go do that." She said, as she turns on her heels and go.

"So, going somewhere?" Dante asked.

"Yes. I'm tasked to go shopping for ingredients today."

Dante gets an idea, "Want an extra hand with that?"

That certainly surprised the maid, as she suddenly blushed at the idea.

"I-I- I don't mind the company. But how about your 'Master'?" She stutters,

"She needs to cool off, for now. And I might just have an idea how..." as Dante spied a piece of paper in her basket.

A Shopping List.

Channelling Sparda's translating monocle, Dante reads the list...

His eyes widened upon seeing one particular set of things listed therein.

"Nice." He grins.

'I believe I just found the best bribe.'

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Dante loved desserts and junk food, and during his sojourns before going to Dumary Island, he travelled a lot and tries a hand at whipping them up, just for the hell of it.

He never got to do it again as he was inadvertedly trapped in hell later.

He might have forgotten a lot of stuff, but a particular pair of dishes stayed in his mind...

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Minutes later,

Dante accompanies Siesta to the market in Tristain. And was pretty pleased that no matter how medieval this world is, but most of the things he required are available.

Strangely, even the produce of this world is nearly similar to the human world... but who cares, right?

Dante found his new treasures.

Later, Dante and Siesta walked through the city square as they proceed to return to the Academy, with Dante ending up having to carry the shopping bags and basket. Not that it bothered him the slightest, but it was a good feeling helping out, whenever he felt like doing so.

Dante also bought a lot of stuff enough to feed an army. Where he put it away to, is a mystery to the maid. And the maid also learned that the devil hunter is well off, possibly wealthier than his master, as she saw him pay the shopkeeper with an exquisite honest-to-goodness ruby the size of a large goose egg, with him appearing to consider it just trifle change.

Thus, Dante get a lifetime VIP treatment by the shops around Tristain.

Dante whistled as they walked, looking actually happy for the first time Siesta ever remembered seeing him.

Passing by an outdoor snack bar the shoppers stopped by for a break.

While waiting for their orders to arrive, Dante, inavertedly checked out the maid's features, who is currently looking at the activities of a nearby Street Dancer. Unlike most of the Tristanians in general, Siesta is the closest person Dante could find in similarity in features to one his former world's inhabitants. Sporting an elegant, Asian look, and a body to die for, if not for the dark hair color she could actually pass off as a noble. Then his attention goes to her pendant, which she always wore either at work or just taking her day-offs. It is an archaic in design, a silver medallion with a red jewel embedded in it, making it the silver medallion look like a crescent moon. I reminded of Dante of his heirloom, which he now wore in his person, the perfect amulet.

"Say, Siesta? Can I ask you a personal question?"

The maid suddenly gets pulled out of her thoughts and flustered into a blushing fit,

"What is it M'sieu Dante?"

"Well, it seems like you don't look like everyone else around here, so..."

Siesta looked hesitant at the question, but says it anyway.

"My...ancestors are said to have come from a far away country,"

"I see, sorry. Just forget I asked." Dante decided to not push the subject any further as he saw the maid being uncomfortable with it.

Luckily, their refreshments arrived in time to break the tense mood.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

In Siesta's thoughts...

The maid felt like telling him the details but it deemed the place to be inappropriate for the subject. Still, she decides to tell him all about it in the near future when the time is right.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Sometime later,

After morning classes, Louise sulks as she sat at the tea table in the veranda of her dorm, "Stupid, Dante," she mutters as remembered that harrowing experience earlier that morning.

'I might have been a bit too violent at him when we were with the princess, but that doesn't mean that he could do just that.' She thought.

But there are sometimes that only through violence one could learn stuff.

Though, it is not an excuse.

Then she realized something when her eyes looked at a pendant on her chest, a prize for winning the familiar presentation night it is called the Blue Tear. It is once a part of the royal treasury which Henrietta had to force Louise to receive in until the pinkette finally acquiesces. Yes, she loves the Princess to the point that she thought she doesn't deserve her friendship or the things Her Majesty gives to her.

"You really deserve this." Henrietta assured her that night, as she gives a kiss on the devil hunter's cheek.

In the beginning, all she's thinking about is to be able to do something right for once; as such she strives to be able to attain that goal of becoming a great mage. She did everything she could muster just to get at least even a measly spell right. But she always ended up in failure.

It all changed, the day she summoned Dante. Sure, he isn't what she expected her familiar to be. He is one scary guy if you get across him wrong, and there's something about him beneath that quirky personality of his that makes anyone who saw him a mystery.

Still, a strange person he may be, no matter how easy it is just to leave her behind, and go off, he stuck with her no matter how crazy her mood swings could get. He even helped her solve the true nature of her magic, made her a bit more confident of herself and even express herself even more than she ever did. He acts like a big brother to her, a rather scary, stupid, but fun older brother.

The question remains in her head, why did he help her. Though her familiar, Dante seems to be an exception to the laws that usually entails of being a familiar to a magician. He doesn't follow orders, but is in fact clearly more powerful than she could imagine. Just who the heck Dante is?

She still hasn't asked him about her dream about him. Was he really fighting those unholy creatures she saw in her dream?

She only succeeded in getting a headache whenever she thought or enumerate what those maybe.

'I guess I'll talk with him once he returns…' she murmured as she falls asleep on the table…

She wakes up an hour or so later, as the sun rose to its zenith. The weather is bit hot for springtime today.

But for some reason, she's still relatively cool. Looking up she sees a large parasol propped up next to her, shielding her from the sun.

'Who…did this?'

As her eyes scanned the surroundings, she spied something on the table.

A freshly poured tea, sweets and a slice of freshly baked chiffon cake are neatly placed.

Something else stood out in particular from the served food.

It looked like small frozen mountain of cream with red syrup splashed over it, and below the frozen cream are some chopped strawberries, and as garnishing on the topmost is the small strawberry, it is artfully served in a tulip shaped, footed glass vase.

The forming condensation on the outside the glass even made the dessert sparkle like a jewel in the light of the midday sun.

Meet Dante's favorite dessert, no prize for guessing what it is.

Though it was the first time Louise ever saw the dish, her eyes sparkled with interest.

"So-so, beautiful" She stutters as her hands unconsciously reached for the glass, and held it like something precious…

She held the moistening glass next to her cheeks…

"It's cold." She sighed at the comfortable manner, like a kid gaining a new toy.

"You know, the best way to appreciate that is to eat it." A voice emanated from within her room,

Dante comes out of the room without his red coat. Wearing only his simple black shirt and the usual pants, he goes over to the tea table and sits across Louise.

"But-but…" Louise looked at the dessert with worry, holding it like it was something precious.

'Oi, it's just an ice cream dessert, you don't have to regret eating it.' Dante thought, as he remained straight faced at the scene.

"Just eat it before it melts away." Dante advised as he hands her a small spoon.

Louise is now left facing the apparently sparkling confection. Slowly but surely, she scoops up from the dish and puts it in her mouth.

A cool, refreshing feeling came over her as she took her time savoring the ice cream for the first time in her life. The taste was an exquisite combination of the natural sweetness of the strawberries, vanilla essence, the crushed nuts and the frozen cream.

Louise had her eyes closed at the time, squealing at the richness of the confection as the taste spreads through her being as it melted in her mouth. A strange happiness came over her. She then took another scoop, and another and another, each time reveling at the pleasure at consuming the dessert….

And then before she knew it, she utterly finished the entire thing, (the glass is not included by the way, : D )

But the happiness never quite left her. She takes a deep breath as she realized, Dante has been there all along with her.

"What do you think of it?" Dante asked, keeping a stoic façade as he did.

Inside, he was enjoying every moment looking at Louise like that.

He reminded him of little Patty before, who shared the same love of sweets as he did.

"It was heavenly. What is it?" Louise dreamily asked the devil hunter.

"It's a confectionary from my world called a Strawberry Sundae."

"I see. Who made it?"

"I did."

That shocked Louise. For someone like Dante to have created such a lovely and delicious masterpiece, seemed so unlike him. She just stared at him unbelievingly.

"What, do I really look that I'm joking?"

Someone then steps into the veranda, Siesta brought a cool jug of water, glasses and some white bread on a tea cart.

"M'sieu Dante made that, believe it or not, M'selle Valliere." She vouched, "I never thought that something like that could be made from what we bought."

"I see…"

"So, before we go further. May I say sorry, about this morning?" Dante grins as holds out his hand to the diminutive mage.

As a matter of fact, the memory of that 'flight' was already washed away by the sundae…

She then takes Dante's hand in a gesture of resolution of their enmity, while saying "It's not that I fully forgive you or anything. It's a bother if a mage and her magical partner have a fight like this. So let's leave it like that."

Her words reminded him of a certain rocket launcher bearing girl and a one-time ward of his. Not the same words but the attitude.

Something the Japanese coined as 'Tsundere'.

The school bell rings, telling them that the next class will be in session.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

While, Louise is at class….

Dante covered the large dishes of iced vanilla-cream mixture with heated strawberry syrup, crushed nuts and candied strawberries as he remembered them from his memory, traditionally served in tulip-shaped, footed glass vases.

While the rest of the kitchen staff looked on in awe…

"Amazing! How did you manage to make such works of art?" the head cook asked.

"Practice."

Truth be told, it was the only ice cream dish he knows how to make by heart.

"Well, have a taste then." Dante steps back with his arms akimbo, smiling at his accomplishment.

And taste they, did. As moments later, expressions of elation and endless praises echoed through the Kitchen.

The Sherbet Age has arrived in Halkeginia.

"Why is it called a Sundae?" Siesta asks, amid the cheers of the staff as they promised to bring the joy of the dessert to the world.

"It was believed to have been first made to serve customers during Sundays, something equivalent to your Day of the Void here."

Dante left out a little detail about why it was made in the first place...Why bother explaining the rest of its history for people with an alien culture anyway.

So there.

"Hmm.." Siesta hummed as she looked at the revelry of the very first Sundae party.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Meanwhile… at Louise's class…

The teacher's door opened, and Professor Zefyr appeared.

The usual clamor of the students vanished.

The students sat in their seats. Professor Zefyr was the one who scolded Professor Chevreuse, who fell asleep on guard duty during the Fouquet incident, and was told by Osman 'You're pretty easy to anger'. Sporting long, jet black hair, and a pitch black cape, his every move gave an unfriendly, uncomfortable feel. Although he was quite young, his unfriendly manner and cold look earned him ill repute from the students.

"Let's start the class. As everyone knows, my runic name is 'gust'. Zefyr the Gust." He was enveloped with shocked stares, and satisfied by that, he continued. "Do you know what the most powerful element is, Zerbst?"

"Isn't that the 'Void' element?"

"I'm not asking for something of the legends. I want something realistic."

Kirche then confidently answered, "Then it has to be the fire element, Professor Zefyr," along with her irresistible smile.

"Oh? Why do you think that?"

"Heat and passion can burn anything and everything, isn't that so?"

"I'm afraid that is not so."Zefyr said as he pulled out his wand from his waist. "Let's give that a try. Attack me with your best fire elemental attack."

Kirche stood still in surprise. What is this teacher doing?

"What is it? I recall that you work best with fire elemental spells, am I right?" Zefyr challenged.

"It won't be a simple scald." Kirche winked.

"No problem. Give me your best shot. Don't tell me the flaming red hair of the Zerbst family is there just for looks?"

Kirche's usual brisk smile disappeared. She retrieved her wand from her cleavage, her fiery, crimson long hair stood on their ends and crackled as if flames were erupting from them. She waved her wand, and from her extended right hand appeared a small fireball. As Kirche chanted her spell, the fireball expanded, resulting in a huge flaming sphere of a meter in diameter. The students ducked under their desks in panic. Her wrist turned and spiraled towards her chest, and released the fireball.

Zefyr made no attempt to dodge the giant sphere of fire heading towards him. He raised his wand, and made sweeping waves as if swinging a sword. A raging gale suddenly began, and instantly scattered the huge fireball. It even knocked down Kirche, who was standing on the far other side of the room. "Everyone, I now tell you why the wind element is the strongest. It is quite easy. Wind can sweep up everything. Fire, water, and dirt alike cannot find footing when faced against strong enough winds." Zefyr briskly announced. "Unfortunately, reality does not let me experiment this, but even Void would probably not stand. That is the wind element."

Kirche stood, displeased, and locked her arms. Zefyr paid her no attention, and continued. "The unseen wind shall be the shield that protects everyone, and if needed, the lance that scatters enemies. And one more reason that wind is the most powerful is..." He raised his wand, "YOBIKISUTA DERU WIND..." as he chanted his spell.

However, at this very moment, the door to the classroom opened, and a nervous Colbert entered. He dressed strangely, a huge, golden wig over his head. In close examination, his suit had the most intricate borders and decorations. Why is he dressed like that? Everyone thought.

"Professor Colbert?" Zefyr raised a brow.

"Ahhh! I'm sorry, please excuse the intrusion, Professor Zefyr."

"Class is in session." Zefyr tersely replied, staring at Colbert.

"Today's classes are henceforth canceled." Colbert sternly announced. Cheers emanated from the classroom. To stop them, Colbert waved with both arms, and continued. "I have something to tell everyone." Colbert exaggeratively tilted his head back, causing his wig to slide off to the ground. The tense mood Zefyr built suddenly collapsed, as laughter enveloped the classroom.

Tabitha, who sat in front, pointed at his balded head and suddenly said, "Shiny."

The laughter grew more intense. Kirche laughed while rapping Tabitha's shoulder, "You can really talk when you speak up once in a while!"

Colbert blushed, and loudly yelled. "SILENCE! Only commoners laugh out loud! Nobles only covertly snicker with their heads down even if they find something funny! Otherwise, the royal court will question our school's educational results!" The classroom finally quieted to those words.

"All right. Everyone, today would be the most important day for Tristain Magical Academy. This is our great Founder Brimir's birthday, a very celebratory day." Colbert's face straightened, and he placed his arms behind his back.

"His Majesty's daughter, the beautiful flower that we Tristainians can proudly boast to the rest of Halkeginia, Princess Henrietta, will, to our great fortune, will come to the Academy to honor the heroes who captured the thief Fouquet."

Whispers and chatter filled the room as some of the students stole a look at the three girls who are said to have bested the notorious outlaw.

"Therefore, we must not allow any slack. As this is very sudden news, we have begun preparations to receive her to the best of our abilities. Due to this, today's classes are hereby cancelled. All students, please put on your formal wear, and assemble at the main entrance." The students anxiously nodded in unison. Colbert severely nodded in return, and loudly announced, "This is an excellent opportunity to let Her Majesty the Princess know that everyone has matured as model nobles. Everyone must prepare to their best to let Her Majesty witness this fact! Dismissed!"

／人◕ .◕人＼

Minutes later...

At the Academy entrance….

Four golden-helmeted stallions led a carriage quietly on the road to the Magic Academy. The carriage was exquisitely adorned with gold, silver, and platinum sculptures. Those sculptures are the Royal Seals. On one of those, a unicorn crossed with a crystal staff signaled that this carriage belongs to Her Majesty the Princess.

One can find, upon closer examination, that the stallions drawing the carriage were not normal horses. They were unicorns like the one on the Royal Seal. Unicorns, which, by legend, would only allow the purest girls ride them, were the best for leading the Princess's carriage.

The carriage's windows had ivy borders and coverings, as if disallowing the outside from looking in. Behind the Princess's carriage is Cardinal Mazarin, who has held all Tristain political authority with an iron grip since His Majesty passed away. His carriage's splendor does not lose to Her Majesty the Queen's. In fact, his was even more embellished. The difference of these two carriages on the road clearly shows who currently holds the top authority in Tristain.

Around the two carriages was the Imperial Guard, a division of mage guards. Composed of the most prominent noble families, the Magic Imperial Guard is the pride of all nobles in the country. Every noble male dreams of wearing the black cape of the Magic Imperial Guard, and every noble female dreams of being their brides. This Imperial Guard is Tristain's symbol of prosperity.

The road is paved with flowers as commoners cheered from the roadside. Every time the carriages passed them, one can hear "Long live Tristain! Long live Princess Henrietta!" and sometimes even "Long live Cardinal Mazarin!" though that pales in comparison to the Princess. He is not well-regarded as he is rumored to be of commoner blood. Some say it's jealousy to his position. As the carriage's curtains opened, and as the crowds see the young Princess, the cheers get ever more passionate. She also returned a genial smile to the people.

As the Princess went through the Academy gates, rows of students raised their staffs in unison, silent and serious. After the main gates were the doors to the central tower. Osman stood at attention there to receive the Princess. As the carriages stopped, servants rushed to lay down red carpet to its door. Guards tensely announced her arrival.

"Her Royal Highness of the Kingdom of Tristain, Princess Henrietta has arrived."

The first out the door, however, was Cardinal Mazarin.

The students grunted, but Mazarin paid no attention, standing at the side of the carriage, holding the Princess's hand as she alighted. The students finally applauded. A youthful, flowery smile emerged from the Princess's face as she elegantly waved.

"That's the Princess of Tristain? Heh... I'm better looking than that." Kirche mumbled. "Oh my dear, who do you think is prettier?" She turned to Dante, standing just behind the Germanian.

"Well, She has her own charm, and you have yours." Dante smoothly praised and smiled at her, causing the girl to go weak in the knees…

Oh, how she she's tempted to just rip off his clothes and do him right there…

Dante looked towards Louise, who was attentively looking at the Princess. If only she could stay quiet like that, she is a very pure, moving, and quite beautiful. No matter how mad she gets, how she treats him like a monster at times, this soft look and such a stunning appearance can put any guy in a trance.

For Lolicons that is.

Louise suddenly blushed, which Dante saw. What is this about? He turned towards whatever she was facing. A hat-wearing, rather cool-looking noble, riding on a magical beast with an eagle's head and a lion's body.

The creature reminded him of that one honourable being he once fought.

Louise was watching the man, enthralled.

Dante found it weird. That noble seems like a nice guy, but that's no reason to look at him so deeply and even blush like that. 'But there seems to be something quite off with him.' He thought. 'That can't be. But then again, I might be just be thinking too hard.' He rebutted himself.

No matter what Dante thought otherwise, there's something about this man that set some alarms ringing.

And as his luck goes, he might be on to something...

'No matter, Dante thought. For now I can still play with Kirche. A brunette with a well-endowed cleavage. A passionate beauty. If it turns out like that, I might as well go for it. He thought rather excitedly. But Kirche was blushing and watching that noble as well. Dante frowned, suddenly feeling of wanting to just run the man through with Rebellion.

'Is my charm actually wearing off?' he couldn't help but ask.

Tabitha simply read her book as if the Princess's arrival meant nothing to her.

"And you just stay like that." He said to Tabitha. She raised her head and looked at what Louise and Kirche saw, looked at Dante again, and simply mumbled, "Nothing else to do."

／人◕ .◕人＼

The ball and honouring ceremony proceeded without a hitch and went to the point of boredom that Dante actually caught forty winks standing up.

Now Louise has become a chevalier, as well as Kirche, much to the pinkette's annoyance.

Tabitha, meanwhile receives a medal for her trouble.

But at least she got to at least consume an entire roast boar all by herself,

After seeing that particular feat, the devil hunter now wonders if Tabitha actually has ability similar to his Infinity Armory in her stomach.

Dante also noticed that during the ceremony, Louise kept looking at the noble with the huge feathered hat and blushed as she did.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Let us go somewhere else.

Later into the night….

While the three heroes who captured Fouquet were being honoured, the said prisoner was staring idly at the ceiling somewhere far way from the academy in the City of Tristain's Genoa prison. She was the triangle earth mage, who was apprehended by Dante and company. Well, mostly by Dante two days ago for the theft of the "Staff of Destruction". As she was infamous for stealing valuable treasure from various nobles she was placed in Genoa prison, the maximum security prison located in the City of Tristain.

She would be charged in court the following week. As she had caused a great deal of shame to nobles all over the country, she would most probably either be exiled or be given the death sentence. Either way, she wouldn't be allowed in Tristain anymore. At first, she thought of escaping, but she later gave up that thought.

Inside her cell, there was nothing except for shoddy looking bed and a table that was made of wood. Even the utensils she used were made of wood. Things would be quite different if there was just something made of metal… Like a spoon.

She had wanted to turn the prison walls and iron bars into soil using alchemy. Without her wand, which was confiscated, that would not be possible. Magicians were helpless without their wands. Furthermore, the prison walls and iron bars are specially enchanted to resist magic. Even with the use of alchemy, she would not be able to escape.

"It's really mean of them to lock up a feeble female like myself here." Fouquet grumbled to herself. Then she thought about the youth that had apprehended her, That man is quite strong, can't believe that he's an ordinary human. Who exactly is he? Then again, it doesn't concern me anymore.

"Time to sleep..." Fouquet closed her eyes and laid down. Just as she had closed her eyes, she quickly opened them again.

Fouquet heard someone walking down to the dungeon where she was held. She heard peculiar noises that sounded like a spur. She deduced it could not be a warden, as they did not wear spurs on their boots. Fouquet quickly sat up.

A person wearing a cloak appeared next to her cell, his face unseen as it was covered by a white mask. Judging from the long wand visible beneath his cloak, he was a mage.

In a rather scornful manner, Fouquet exclaimed "I'm surprised to see a visitor in the middle of the night!"

The man in the white mask did not reply, and instead gave Fouquet a cold stare.

Fouquet instinctively knew that this person was hired to kill her. Some nobles she had stolen from must have thought that sentencing her in court was too much of a hassle and had decided to hire an assassin to kill her. Some of the items she had stolen from the imperial family were likely stolen goods to begin with, and in order not to let such a truth surface the imperials had probably decided to silence her.

"Well, as you can see, this doesn't look like a place to entertain someone. But I think you're not here just for a cup of tea, right?" Fouquet said.

She began to think, Though I'm without my wand, I will not easily give up without a fight. I'm not only well versed in magic; I'm pretty good in close combat too. However, I'm powerless to stop him should he use magic. Therefore, I must somehow lure him inside my cell.

Just then, the man in the cloak spoke, "Are you Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth?"

His voice sounded strong and youthful.

"I'm not sure who gave me this nickname, but yes, I am Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth."

The man in the cloak raised both of his hands, implying that he did not intend hostility.

"I have something that I would like to tell you."

"What is that?" Fouquet replied in a rather surprised tone. "Don't tell me that you're going to speak on my defense. Are you stupid or something?"

"I'd be happy to speak in your defense, my dear Mathilda of Saxe-Gotha"

Fouquet's face became pale. "That's a name I had forgotten, or rather, was forced to forget. There should be no one in this world that knows that name anymore…"

"Who exactly are you?"

The cloaked man did not answer her question and instead asked, "Mathilda, do you wish to serve Albion again?"

Fouquet, who had lost her cool, replied, "That's impossible! I will never serve those who had murdered my father and annexed my home!"

"Don't be mistaken, no one is asking you to serve the Albion royal family. They're going to be overthrown soon."

"What do you mean?"

"A revolution is taking place. We're going to overthrow the weak and powerless Imperial family, and succeeding them will be more capable nobles like ourselves."

"But aren't you part of Tristain's nobility? What has Albion's revolution got to do with you?"

"We are a consortium of nobles without borders who are worried about Halkeginia's future. We wish to unify Halkeginia and regain the holy land that founder Brimir had once set foot on."

Fouquet smirked, "Please stop talking nonsense. If that's the case, why does your consortium of nobles without borders need me? I'm just a prisoner."

"We need skilled magicians now more than ever. Will you lend us your help, Fouquet of the Crumbing Earth?"

Fouquet waved her hands and replied, "Please stop dreaming…"

"You wish to unify Halkeginia? The Kingdoms of Tristain, Germania, Albion, Gallia, and a number of smaller kingdoms which are constantly at war with each other? Unifying them would be like a midsummer night's dream." ?

"Hmm! Getting the holy land back… how would you fight against the all-powerful elves?"

For hundreds of years, the holy land had been in the possession of the elves living north of Halkeginia. Humans had attempted countless crusades to get back the holy land, but failed miserably each time.

The elves, distinguished by their distinctly pointed ears and unique culture, had long life spans and were highly proficient with magic. As such, they were highly effective warriors. Defeating them would be an uphill battle.

"I have no love for nobles and I have no interest in Halkeginia. As for regaining the Holy land, the elves can stay there for all I care!"

The man in the black cloak took out his wand and replied, "I'll give you a choice, Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth."

"Let's hear it out."

"Either you become our comrade or…"

Fouquet finished the sentence for him, "Or I would immediately perish here? Am I correct?"

"That is correct. Since you already know our secret, I cannot let you live."

"You nobles are really a conceited bunch. You'll never consider other people's feelings," Fouquet said with a chuckle, "To put it nicely, you're inviting me to join you, but in reality there is no other choice, is there?"

The man in the black cloak too replied with a chuckle, "That's correct."

"Let me be a part of your consortium then. I hate people who do not know how to give orders."

"Let's go then."

Fouquet placed both her hands onto her chest and asked, "What's the name of your organization?"

"Do you really wish to join us, or are you just toying with me?"

"I just want to know the name of the organization I will work for from now on."

The man in the black cloak removed a key from his pocket, unlocked Fouquet's cell and answered, "The Reconquistadors."

／人◕ .◕人＼

That same moment… In Louise's room.

Dante laid in his couch, watching Louise. It seems like she couldn't calm down. She would stand up one moment, and sit down the next, worrying about something while hugging her pillow, ever since she saw that noble that day. After that, she said nothing, returned to her room like a ghost, and since then sat on her bed just like that.

"You're... acting weird." Dante started, but Louise made no answer.

He stood up, and waved in front of her eyes. She didn't move.

"A bit too weird." He then pulled on her hair. Louise's hair was very delicate, very soft, as if even pulling them slightly would break them off, that kind of soft. He put in some force to the pull, and she still made no reaction. Same for when he pulled on her face.

"Helloo, Earth to Louise de la Vallierre." He waved in front of Louise's eyes.

Still, she did not move, as if in a spell.

'Boring... what's wrong with her? Geez...' Dante said to no one in particular,

Then, he thought of something crazy to get her back in gear...

And decided against it.

Screw that, That would be A DISGUSTING ACT.

"I... what am I...HECK! WHAT DID I JUST THOUGHT OF?" After realizing that, he forcefully shook his head, and beat it with his own hands on the wall.

Spider cracks appeared on the ancient wall as he hit it.

He was visibly annoyed that he actually thought of that strange prank.

Whatever that is, it's for his thoughts only…

'Dammit, I was messing around that much, and she never noticed it?'

All he could do now is to just lay on the couch, totally ignored by the girl.

Then, somebody knocked on the door.

"I wonder who could it be?" Dante asked Louise.

The knocks were very orderly. It started with two long knocks, and then three short ones...

Louise suddenly woke up from her trance. She fixes herself, stood up, and opened the door.

Standing there was a girl, covered entirely in a black veil.

She looked around, and then walked in, closing the door behind her.

"...you are?" A shocked Louise barely managed to voice.

The veiled girl made a 'shh' gesture with a finger on her mouth, and took out a staff from her black cape, lightly waving it while chanting a short spell. Glowing powder filled the room.

"A silencing spell?" Louise asked. The veiled girl nodded.

"There might be extra ears and eyes around."

After making sure the room had no magical ears and no peeping holes, she slowly removed her veil.

In front of them is really Princess Henrietta.

Dante smiled disarmingly.

Henrietta, upon noticing Dante, blushed.

'Is she here for round 2?' he joked in his thoughts.

Louise is already very cute, but this Princess can match her in cuteness, and still have this admirable elegance.

Louise frantically went down on her knees. Dante just stood there, well he isn't one who kneels to royalty anyway, but currently he has no idea what was going on.

Henrietta recovered from her blushing fit, coolly and gently spoke. "It has been a while, Vallière."

'Screw that, it's just been two days since you visited.' Dante thought.

There was a profound sadness in her voice.

Dante raised an eyebrow, at the tone but chose to sleep off.

He felt these two needed time to talk alone.

"Princess?"

Louise looked worried as she peered into Henrietta's face.

"How I envy you. Freedom is such a wonderful thing, Louise Françoise."

"What are you saying? You're the royal princess, are you not?"

"A princess born in her kingdom is like a bird being raised in a cage. You go here and there on your master's every whim..."

Henrietta said, looking lonely as she gazed at the moon outside the window. She then held Louise's hands and gave a sweet smile before speaking.

"I... I'm getting married."

"...You have my congratulations."

Louise, who somehow felt the sadness in that tone, spoke in a subdued voice.

It was at that moment that Henrietta noticed Dante, who had been napping on the couch.

"Oh, forgive me. Was I intruding?"

"Intruding? How would that be?"

"Oh no! It seems I was so caught up talking to you that I didn't realize my blunder!"

"Don't change the subject and just tell us what's going on." Dante interrupts, opening one eye to look at the two.

Henrietta gave off another sigh.

Dante thought it best to let the two continue without him butting in and stayed silent.

"Princess, what happened?" Louise aked,

"No, it's nothing. Forgive me, oh, I'm so ashamed of myself. It's not something I should tell you... but I am just so..."

"Please tell me. What troubles are they that cause princess, as cheerful as she is, to sigh like this?"

"...No, I cannot tell you. Please forget I said anything. Louise."

"I will not! Didn't we use to talk about everything? Princess was the one who had called me a friend. Won't you share your worries with your friend?"

After Louise spoke, Henrietta gave off a cheerful-looking smile.

"You've called me a friend, Louise Françoise. That makes me so happy."

Henrietta nodded her head in determination, and began to talk.

"You must not speak to anyone about what I am about to tell you now."

After that, she gave a quick glance in Dante's direction, he cracked an eye open.

"Should I step outside?"

Henrietta shook her head.

"A mage and her summoned being are as one. I see no reason for you to leave."

And with a sad tone, Henrietta started talking.

"I am to marry the Emperor of Germania..."

"Germania, you say?"

Louise, who hated Germania, spoke out in astonishment.

"That country of barbaric upstarts?"

"Yes. But it can't be helped. It must be done to solidify our alliance."

Henrietta explained the political climate of Halkeginia to Louise.

There was an insurrection among the nobles of Albion, and it looked like the Royal Family would soon be overthrown. If the rebels won, then the next thing would be the invasion of Tristain. To defend against this, Tristain was looking to form an alliance with Germania. For the alliance's sake, it was decided that Princess Henrietta would be married into the Germanian Imperial Family...

"So that's why..."

Louise said with a depressed voice. It was clear from Henrietta's tone that she did not desire this wedding.

"It is alright. Louise, I have long since abandoned the notion of marrying the one whom I love."

"Princess..."

"Those two-faced Albion nobles do not want Tristain and Germania to become allies. Two arrows are easier to break when they are not tied together."

Henrietta murmured.

"...Therefore, they have been searching frantically for anything that would interfere with the marriage.

"And they've found something..."

Dante didn't know anything about deeper details of the alliance or Albion, but in any case, it seemed like it was something serious. Yup, as big as another Cold War or something, he thought with a nod.

"Then this is about that thing that could get in the way of princess' wedding?"

Louise asked, her face looking pale, and Henrietta gave a regretful nod.

"Oh, Founder Brimir... please save this unfortunate princess..."

Henrietta covered her face with her hands, and crumbled on the floor. Dante was a little shocked at the dramatic gesture. He'd never seen anything so grandiose in his life, other than his, and a certain stuttering researcher he destroyed.

"Tell me, please! Princess! Just what is it that could interfere with the princess' wedding?"

Louise, like she had also been infected, rattled off with an agitated look. With both hands still on her face, Henrietta looked like she was in pain as she began muttering.

"...It is a letter that I had written some time ago."

"A letter?"

"Yes. If those Albion nobles get their hands on it... they would probably send it forward to the Germanian Imperial Family as soon as they could."

"What kind of letter could that be?"

"...That I cannot tell you. But if the Germanian Imperial Family were to read it... they would never forgive me. The marriage will fall through, and with it, the alliance with Tristain. Then Tristain would stand alone against the strength of Albion."

Louise gave a gasp and seized Henrietta's hands.

"Where would that letter be? The letter that would bring crisis to Tristain!"

Henrietta shook her head.

"It is not with us. The truth of the matter is, it is already in Albion."

"Albion! But then...! Is it already in the enemy's hands?"

"No... the one who holds the letter is not with the rebels of Albion. As the conflict between the rebels and his kinsmen unfolded, Prince Wales of the Royal Family..."

"The Prince Wales? The Prince Valiant?"

Henrietta bent back and laid down on the bed.

"Oh, it's a disaster! Sooner or later, Prince Wales will fall captive to the rebels! And when that happens, the letter will come to light! And everything would be ruined! Ruined! Without an alliance, Tristain would have to take on Albion by itself!"

Louise held her breath.

"Then, Princess, the favor that you're asking of me..."

"Impossible! It's impossible, Louise! How could I be so terrible? It's all confusing! When I think about it, I couldn't ask you to do such a dangerous thing as to go to Albion while this conflict between the nobles and the royalists is unfolding!"

"What are you saying? Be it the kettles of hell, or into the jaws of a dragon, if it's for princess' sake, I'll go anywhere! There is no way the third daughter of the House of la Vallière, Louise Françoise, could overlook such a crisis for princess and Tristain!"

Louise kneeled down and lowered her head reverently.

"Please leave this matter to me, the one who has captured Fouquet the [Crumbling Earth]."

Dante, who had been lying on the couch for a while, turned to look at Louise and spoke.

"Hey, wasn't that me?"

"You're my guardian being."

Dante sighs, and returns to his previous sleeping position.

"A your achievement, is my achievement."

Louise said with perfect confidence.

"And if I make a mistake?"

"That would be your mistake, wouldn't it?"

'What the heck?'

Though he felt somewhat cheated, it was useless to object when Louise got into her usual threatening attitude whenever she is in front of the princess, so he just let the subject drop with a shrug.

'After all, one must look good for a friend…' the devil hunter thought.

Of course, Dante sensed the urgency of the situation and actually listened in,

"So you will help me? Louise Françoise! You are a dear friend!"

"Of course! Princess!"

Louise grasped Henrietta's hands, and as the former spoke heatedly, the latter gave in and started crying.

"Princess! I, Louise, forever friend of the Princess, will be your confidante! Have you forgotten my vow of eternal loyalty?"

"Ah, the loyalty. This loyalty and sincere friendship! I'm deeply moved. I will never forget through life your loyalty and friendship! Louise Françoise!"

Dante stared half amazed at the two. It was like a conversation between two people who were getting drunk with their own words.

'Ah, so this is how it's like for nobles and princesses, it's troublesome,' Dante was strangely drawn to the scene as he watched from where he lay.

"Louise. Sorry to bother you while you're reaffirming your friendship and everything."

"What?"

"Going to Albion in the middle of a war is fine, but are you absolutely sure of this?"

"Of course I am, so at least seriously guard me when we go there."

"Yeah. I'll do my best..."

Dante simply sighed.

Come to think of it, they haven't talked about his true nature or about the legendary rune that had appeared on the back of his right hand yet.

'But even if I say it, it's just going to be a waste,' Dante thought.

Legendary or not, she still has no idea how to treat him as her magical partner.

"Then shall we go to Albion, find the Crown Prince of Wales, and get the letter back, princess?"

"Yes, that is correct. I feel confident that you, the ones who have caught Fouquet the [Crumbling Earth], should be able to accomplish this difficult mission."

"As you wish. How urgent is this task?"

"I've heard that the nobles of Albion have managed to drive the royalists into a corner of the country. It will just be a matter of time before they are defeated."

Louise's face looked serious as she bowed to Henrietta.

"Then tomorrow, we shall depart."

Afterwards, Henrietta turned her gaze towards Dante. Dante's smiled at her, causing the Princess' hear to skip a beat.

Though Louise was also foolishly lovely and neat, Princess Henrietta was so beautiful that normal guys who beheld her would be breathless. Her millet-colored hair, trimmed right above her eyebrows, was swimming gracefully. Her blue eyes shone brilliantly like the southern seas.

White skin, on which floated a feeling of purity, a nose like a priceless and finely shaped sculpture...

Dante himself would be happy to have her, but then again due to his nature…

Dante stared at Henrietta as she also looked into his eyes as if she was in a trance. Louise looked at this with a chilly gaze. It didn't seem like she was in a good mood.

'Why are you looking at me like that, Louise? Ah, is it because the Princess is staring at me with admiration? Could you possibly be getting jealous? But weren't you blushing when you saw that noble with the feathered hat? And weren't you completely out of it after that?'

'It's funny how jealous you're getting, Louise.' Dante shook his head at the thought.

At that time, the door slammed open and someone comes flying in.

"You! The princess! What do you think you're doing?"

It was Guiche de Gramont.

With an ever-present imitation rose in his hand.

"What do you want?"

Dante said from where he lay on the couch as Louise looked at the newcomer.

"Guiche! You! Were you eavesdropping? Did you hear our conversation just now?"

Guiche, however, didn't answer the pair's questions and just stood in a daze.

'My, my, he's cruising for a bruising,'

"For my hunt of the rose-like, lovely princess bringing me to this place... and then hearing her troubles, through the door's keyhole..."

Guiche flourished his imitation rose and cried.

"Screw that!"

Dante suddenly appeared right in front of the fop and drove his fist into Guiche's face.

"Agah!"

"Did't your Master teach you about manners?"

Dante gave Guiche, who had fallen to the floor, a hard kick, then lifted the fool by the neck as he started wringing it on one hand.

"Th-that's not fair! You! Gah!"

"So, what now? This guy overheard princess' story. Shall I tear him apart?"

Dante could be very serious when it comes to personal stuff.

"That might be best... it's really too bad he had to hear our conversation just now..."

Dante sighed, as he drops the half-dead Guiche.

But by miracle, Guiche suddenly recovers and stand up in attention. A feat that even Dante had to be impressed.

Looks like his training of the fop is paying off,

"Your Highness! By all means, please appoint me, Guiche de Gramont, to this difficult mission."

"Oh? You?" the Princess tried to grasp what he's saying.

"You go to sleep."

Dante backhands Guiche, sending the boy spinning and fall down gaudily.

But this guy quickly recovered, as he speedily moves in front of the Princess and Louise, knelt on one knee and declaims,

"Let me join your group!"

Guiche yelped as he collapsed from kneeling.

"Why?" Louise asked,

Guiche's face reddened.

"I wish to be of use to Her Highness..."

Dante was sensing something from Guiche's appearence right then.

"You, are you in love with the princess, right?"

"Don't say such rude things. I, absolutely, just want to be of use to Her Highness."

'Your body screams the contrary, you idiot.' Dante thought

Guiche's face was burning intensely as he stated his devotion. Telling by the passionate look he was giving Henrietta, he was certainly under her charm.

"But you have a girlfriend. Who was that again? Uh, Monmon-something..."

"It's Montmorency."

"So what's going on?"

But Guiche was silent.

'Ah, I see,' Dante thought.

"Did you get dumped? She completely dumped you, I bet?"

"Q-quiet!"

"You be quiet!" Dante stated as he plants a heel kick to the boy's head.

Here are the facts: It was the matter of the perfume in the dining hall. When he was caught two-timing, Guiche was dripping with wine from the top of his head courtesy of Montmorency.

"Gramont? Ah, of General Gramont?"

Henrietta fixed her eyes on Guiche's vacantly looking face.

"I am his son, Your Highness." Guiche answers, who apparently recovered from the kick to the head.

'At least he has tenacity.' Dante contemplated,

Guiche stood up and gave a reverent bow.

"Are you also saying that you wish to help me?"

"It would be an unexpected blessing for me if I were to become a part of that mission."

'Truth be told, you'll just end up being a curse in this mission.' Dante thought,

Henrietta smiled at Guiche's enthusiastic expression.

"Thank you. Your father is a great, brave noble, and it seems you have inherited his blood. Then, please. Would you help this unfortunate princess, Sir Guiche?"

"Her Highness has called my name! Her Highness! Tristain's lovely flower, has smiled her rosy smile at me!"

Guiche, having felt too much excitement, fell on his back in a faint.

"Is he alright?"

Dante poked at Guiche.

"He'll live." He deadpanned.

Louise paid no mind to the disturbance and spoke in a serious voice.

"Well then, tomorrow morning, we shall depart for Albion."

"We have heard that Prince Wales has set up camp somewhere around Newcastle in Albion."

"Understood. I've travelled through Albion with my sisters before, so I'm familiar with the geography."

"It will be a perilous journey. If the nobles of Albion discover your mission, they will do everything in their power to get in your way."

Henrietta sat at the desk and, with Louise's feather quill and some parchment, wrote a letter out.

Henrietta quietly gazed at the letter she had written herself, before she began shaking her head sadly.

"Princess? What's the matter?"

Louise, thinking something was up, called out.

"I-it's nothing."

Henrietta blushed, gave a nod as if she had settled on something, and then added another line at the end. After that, she murmured in a soft voice.

"Founder Brimir... Please forgive this selfish princess. Even though my country is in distress, I cannot help but write this one sentence... I cannot lie about my own feelings..."

Henrietta's facial expression made it seem like she had written a love-letter rather than a secret message. Louise couldn't say anything more, and just looked at Henrietta quietly.

Henrietta rolled up the letter she had written. She waved her staff. Out of nowhere, sealing wax appeared on the rolled-up letter, and a seal pressed down on it. Then she handed the letter over to Louise.

"When you meet the Crown Prince Wales, please pass this letter to him. He should then return the letter in question immediately."

After that, Henrietta removed a ring from the ring finger on her right hand, and gave it to Louise.

"This is the Water Ruby that I had received from my mother. It should work as a good-luck charm, at least. If you have any money concerns, please sell this to get some travel funds."

Louise bowed her head in silence.

"This mission is for the future of Tristain. For that, my mother's ring will protect you from the harsh winds blowing in Albion."

／人◕ .◕人＼

As to how Dante made the Vanilla Ice Cream?

After Dante and Siesta had the vanilla essence, sugar, and cream thoroughly mixed, he brings the huge, 3 meters wide and deep bowl of the mixture to the courtyard for the 'final touch' as Dante stated, and stood at the center of the court.

He takes a deep breath, as he concentrated to the do the task at hand.

Suddenly, Dante suddenly throws the vanilla-cream mixture into the air. Then the area surrounding Dante suddenly turns black and white, and was stuck frozen in place. That includes the mixture he just thrown upwards, that it looked like a floating globe.

Introducing one of Dante's abilities, the Quicksilver style; a power with the ability to control time.

Dante isn't done just yet, as a light emanated from his right hand, and in its place, a crystal-like weapon of 3 interlocking rods, infused with the elemental power of ice, making its techniques "icy-cool to the core".

Meet the Devil Arm Cerberus.

Dante expertly swings the weapon round and around, and performs a kata reminiscent of a certain film/martial arts legend.

"Atatatatatatatatata, Whooo!" His kiai rang through the court.

He then launches himself into the air, and swings the nunchaku and strikes the globe of cream many times in a split of a split second, instantly freezing it in normal time.

With the task done, Dante dispels the frozen time with a snap of his fingers, allowing the now big globe of ice cream drop into the bowl.

"Now that's what I call a whipped cream." He grins at the pun.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Authors note :

The heck just happened?

I'm not sure if I made the damn recipe for his fave dessert…

Dammit, I just can't stop writing….

And it looks like an adventure is waiting for them after all…

Please Review when you can...

Next two chaps might be a bit boring but well, hopefully I will get better in arranging these plot point,

see you guys … : )

: ) 'Credit is good but I need cash.'


	10. Mission 10 : To La Rochelle

Need more time to learn how to make a better financial report…

For now,

An Introduction, a boring trip, and a slight out of character period for our devil hunter just for the fun of it…

Lets begin…

Mission 10 : To La Rochelle

／人◕ .◕人＼

Fantasy pic: Wardes poses with his sword wand in DMC4 Credo's Uniform.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Although dawn had just broken, Dante, Guiche and Louise had already started preparing for the trip, while Guiche prepared the saddle for his horses. Dante readied Sleipnir for the long trip ahead. Over Dante's back was Derflinger. For some reason, the annoying sword couldn't be stored in his Infinite Armory, so he had no choice but to store Rebellion instead, at least for the trip.

Louise was dressed in her academy uniform; the only difference was that she now wore horse riding boots instead of shoes. Judging from that, it looked like a great deal of time would be spent riding the horse.

Well, riding the motorbike is similar to riding horses, only much faster.

How far would Albion be from here?

Just before setting off, Guiche spoke rather awkwardly.

"I have a request Master..."

"What is it that you want?" Dante responded with annoyance while putting his belongings onto the saddle, he's still annoyed at having the fop come with them.

But then again, this might be good for training the boy. A live fire training.

"I wish to bring my familiar along."

"The mole?"

"Yes."

Louise and Dante looked at each other, then looked at Guiche again.

"Where's your familiar now?"

"Here." Guiche replied while pointing to the ground.

"But there's nothing on the ground," Louise said.

Guiche responded by tapping his feet on the ground. Just then, a giant brown creature popped out of the ground.

"Verdandi! Oh, my cute Verdandi!"

Dante sighed. No matter how many times Dante saw the creature; he can't help but wonder what kind of evolution did its ancestors went through to end up like this.

"Allow me to introduce to you; this is my cute little familiar Verdandi."

'What is so little about this thing?' Dante thought, looking at the mole

"We know already, you've been introducing her since the Familiar Show."

Upon closer inspection, that giant brown creature was actually a mole with a size equivalent to a small bear. At least its coat is rather shiny for a grounded creature. Guiche really takes good care of it.

"Yes. Ahh... My Verdandi, you look so cute from any angle I look. Have you eaten your meal of earthworms before you arrived here?"

'The angle in which I might consider it cute is from an angle looking away from it.' Dante thought

The gigantic mole hummed happily in response.

"Really? That's wonderful!" Guiche said while rubbing cheek to cheek with his familiar.

'He could actually understand what its saying?'

"Actually... I don't think that you could bring it along with us..." Dante said,

"That's right Guiche. That creature moves underground right?"

"That's right. Even though it's slightly bigger that usual, Verdandi is still a mole all right."

"How are we going to bring it along? We're all riding on horse and whatever Dante's vehicle is." Louise said in perturbed fashion.

"That's all right. Verdandi moves along quickly underground. Am I right, Verdandi?

The gigantic mole nodded in agreement.

"But we're going to Albion! We can't bring creatures that move underground!." Louise explained.

Guiche, upon hearing that, knelt onto the ground and replied, "I cannot bear the separation with my dear Verdandi... Oh! The pain..."

At the same time, the giant mole seemed to pick up some scent from its nose and drew nearer and nearer to Louise.

"What is this stupid mole trying to do!"

"Like master, like familiar. They both share the same interest – girls." Dante said who couldn't help but cough out.

"Stop! Stop this right now!"

The giant mole knocked Louise off her feet and started sniffing all over her.

"Ah! Watch where you're sniffing! Stop it!"

Louise being constantly poked by the giant mole's nose, started to roll all over the ground. All that rolling disheveled her clothes and exposed her underwear. Louise was starting to get very annoyed...

Dante unconsciously started to be immersed in watching Verdandi and Louise just as if he was admiring a beautiful picture...

Somehow, this felt ridiculous but..

"Ah... How beautiful is the scene of a giant mole teasing a damsel." Guiche comments

"I totally agree."

Dante nodded in agreement.

"Stop blabbering nonsense over there, you oafs! Come over and help me quickly! Ahh!

The giant mole saw the ring at Louise's right hand and started pecking it with its nose.

"You insolent mole! Don't use your nose to sniff at the ring the highness has bestowed to me!."

"I see now. It's the ring. Verdandi loves jewels."

"Such an irritating pest!"

"Please don't call Verdandi an irritating pest. It's because of me that Verdandi searches for precious stones and jewels. For an Earth magician, there's nothing more helpful than this."

"With a familiar's kill like that, you should take up prospecting for jewels; I assure you that you'll hit the jackpot easily." Dante comments,

Just as Louise was preparing to blow her top, a sudden gust of wind came out of nowhere and blew away Verdandi.

"Who is that!" Guiche shouted agitatedly.

A rather stout looking noble wearing a feathered cap appeared out of the faint daylight behind him. Dante looked rather surprised.

"That...That person is..."

"What have you done to my Verdandi!"

Guiche hastily took out his rose shaped wand but the noble wearing the feathered cap was faster. Before Guiche could cast any spell, his wand was already out of his hand.

"I'm not your enemy. I'm under the orders of the highness to accompany you on your journey. The princess is worried about just having you few going to Albion, but then again sending a whole troop of soldiers with you will be too conspicuous. Therefore, I was appointed to accompany you all on this journey." The noble said while taking off his feather cap and bowing.

"I'm the captain of the Griffin Knights, Viscount Wardes."

The grumbling Guiche quickly shut his mouth. For most of the nobles, Guiche included, being able to join the Griffin Knights meant great prestige.

M'sieu Wardes looked at Guiche and spoke apologetically. "Sorry for what I did to your familiar. I couldn't stand watching my fiancé being harassed."

"What!"

Dante for one, was shocked.

"Fiancé?"

"This majestic looking noble is Louise' fiancé?"

"Msieu Wardes..." Louise spoke in a trembling voice after standing up.

"It's been such a long time. My Louise, my dear Louise."

'My Louise? Is he serious?' Dante thought to himself.

Wardes approached Louise and with a beaming smile on his face, carried Louise up.

"It's really been such a long time." Louise said with her face turning red with embarrassment.

"Still as light as ever. Just like a feather."

"Viscount... please don't be like this... There are people over here..."

Dante's eyebrow raises at the statement.

Wardes, who placed Louise back down and replaced his hat said, "Care to introduce your companions to me?"

"Erm... That is Guiche de Gramont and my guardian being, Dante." said Louise while pointing at them while she was introducing them to Wardes. Guiche who did not dare look at Wardes directly, lowered his head.

As if Dante would bow down to anyone, he just quietly observed the noble in front of him.

"Yo," he simply greets the man,

Wardes said with a rather surprised look on his face, "Are you Louise' familiar'? This is the first time I've seen a human being a familiar."

It appears that Wardes knows something at how he said the words.

"Thank you for taking such good care of my fiancé."

"You're welcome."

Dante took the opportunity to size up Wardes. He was indeed handsome. Even though Guiche could also be considered a looker himself, he was always making a fool out of himself and making irrational decisions. He could even rub his own cheek with a giant mole.

However for Wardes, not only he had the looks. His eyes were like that of an eagle – keen and sharp. That mustache he had further enhanced his suaveness.

In addition he had a muscular and well built body.

Dante had originally thought that all male magicians would have a body like Guiche, but he was proven wrong after a talk with Old Osmond. Even in hand to hand combat with Wardes, without the use of magic, skilled swordsmen could be subdued in seconds.

Thinking about all that, Dante smirks inwardly.

'He could be nice challenge' He thought,

Wardes might have felt that, for he approached the devil hunter and looked at him eye to eye.

'He's calling me out,' Dante thought

"What's wrong? Are you having doubts about this trip? There's nothing to be afraid of! Aren't you the one who caught Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth? With your courage alone, nothing is impossible."

'Fuck that, courage alone won't cut it,' Dante reflects,

Wardes who had finished saying that, gave a broad smile. With that, Dante felt a tinge of annoyance.

'And to think Louise would be married to him soon... Just thinking of that has made me worried about something...'

Louise, not able to calm down due to Wardes' appearance, was feeling restless with anxiety.

Dante had to turn his head away; he did not want to see Louise act that way. He still find it unbelievable.

Wardes gave a whistle, and a griffin appeared out from the morning clouds. It was a mythical beast with the head of a eagle and a body of a lion. And on its back were wings that were made up of beautiful white feathers.

Brings back memories to the devil hunter.

Wardes had climbed to the back of the griffin with grace, and then extended a hand to Louise.

"Come over, my Louise."

Louise lowered her head in hesitation and bashfulness, just like a girl who is in love.

This made the devil hunter laugh inside at the cheesiness.

'What does he think he's doing? "Come over, my Louise?" That line sounds like some corny romance novel!'

Dante being a nice guy at the moment, had to keep those thoughts to himself and went up to the Sleipnir in silence in the end.

Louise, who was still hesitating, was suddenly carried up the griffin by Wardes.

With one hand on the reins and his wand in the other, Wardes shouted, "Well everybody, onwards!"

The griffin moved forward. Following behind it were Guiche, looking full of admiration for Wardes; and Dante, feeling something very strange at the situation all the while.

Dante thought to himself while staring at the blank sky.

'How far would it be to Albion?'

／人◕ .◕人＼

From the headmaster's office window, Henrietta was watching Dante and group departing for Albion. Closing her eyes, she starting praying...

"Founder Brimir, please grant them protection throughout their journey..."

Next to her was Headmaster Osman trimming his nasal hair.

"You aren't going to see them off, headmaster Osman?"

"No, as you can see, I'm busy trimming my nasal hair, your highness."

Henrietta shook her head in disapproval.

Just then, someone knocked at the door.

"Enter," said the headmaster.

M'sieu Colbert entered room with an anxious look on his face.

"Bad news! Headmaster!"

"You say that quite often. What seems to be the problem now?"

"From the news that I've heard from the castle guards, Fouquet has escaped!"

"Hmm..." said Osman while stroking his beard.

"According to the guard who was on duty that time, some noble knocked him out using wind magic. The person used the opportunity that most of the manpower was diverted to protect the princess to help Fouquet escape! This means that someone inside is a spy! Isn't that bad news?"

Henrietta's face turned pale upon hearing the news.

Headmaster Osman made a gesture to M'sieu Colbert asking him to leave.

"Okay. Okay. We'll hear further details from you later."

After M'sieu Colbert left, Henrietta placed her hands on the table and sighed deeply.

"We have a spy in our midst. This must be the doings of the Albion nobility!"

"Maybe it is... OUCH!" said the headmaster while trimming his nasal hair. Henrietta looked at him helplessly.

"How can you still be so relaxed? The future of Tristain is at stake!"

"The opponent has already made his move. All we can do now is to wait, isn't it?"

"Even so..."

"It's all right. If it's him, he'll be able to cope with any problems they'll face during their journey."

"The person you're speaking of is Guiche? Or Viscount Wardes?"

The headmaster shook his head.

"Don't tell me that person is Louise's guardian being. How could that be possible? Isn't he just a commoner?"

"Your highness, have you heard of the story of Founder Brimir before?"

"I have read most of the story..."

The headmaster smiled and replied, "Then, do you know about Windálfr?"

"Isn't that Founder Brimir's one of the strongest familiar? Don't tell me..."

At this point of time, Headmaster Osman felt that he had already divulged too much. Regarding the secret of "Windálfr" he always wanted to keep that to himself. Although he trusted Henrietta, he did not want the Royal family to know about it yet.

"Yes, he's as strong and capable as Gandálfr and furthermore, he comes from another world different from ours."

"Another world?"

"That's right. He comes from a world different from Halkeginia. Or I should say, from a place not on Halkeginia. I have always believed that this man from another world will succeed. That's also the reason that I'm so carefree even during these perilous times."

"Another world different from Halkeginia really exists..."

Henrietta gazed far away. The sensation of the man's lip still lingered on Henrietta's lips. Touching her lips with her fingertips, she closed her eyes, smiled and said,

"Let me pray then, for the breeze that comes from another world."

／人◕ .◕人＼

It would take two days to reach Port City La Rochelle by horse from Tristain. The port city is situated on a deep and narrow gorge and because of this; it has a small population of three hundred. As La Rochelle is the gateway to Albion, the number of travelers is ten times more than the local population.

Boulders could be seen on both sides of the narrow mountain pathway. People had carved holes in the boulders, turning them into taverns and shops. Although the buildings look ordinary, upon closer inspection one can realize that all of them are carved out of a single rock, a feat done by Square ranked earth mages.

On the narrow street, it appeared to be dark even though it was afternoon due to the gorges blocking the sunlight. If one made a turn on the street, they could see an even narrower street leading to a bar.

On the signboard resembling a keg of wine, the shop's name was written – "Golden Wine Barrel Bar". However, nothing in the shop resembled its name; the shop was dilapidated like an abandoned house. Piles of ruined chairs could be seen piling next to the door.

Most of the patrons were gangsters and mercenaries. When drunk, they would often fight over the smallest of things like staring incidents or minor squabbles.

Whenever they'd fight, they would fight with their weapons. Therefore, it was common to see people dead or seriously injured inside the bar. The shopkeeper, not wanting to see any more injuries and deaths, put up a notice inside the shop.

"Please use the chairs when you fight in here."

From the notice, the customers could feel the shopkeeper's helplessness. So they started to use the chairs instead of their weapons when fighting each other. Even though there were still injuries, no one was killed anymore. From then on, chairs that were destroyed during fights got piled next to the door.

Today, "Golden Wine Barrel Bar" is filled with patrons as usual. Almost all the patrons are mercenaries returning from Albion which was in an internal strife.

"The king of Albion is finished!"

"Don't that means that they're going to start a republic soon?"

"If so, let us offer a toast to the republic!"

The people offering toasts to themselves were formerly mercenaries hired by the royalist to fight along side with them. However, faced with the imminent defeat of their clients, they all decided to retreat back here. This was not considered to be a dishonorable act. As mercenaries, they value their lives more than their beliefs, and so they are not obliged to fight to their death for their clients.

As they were drinking, the bar's door opened. A rather tall lady had entered the bar. The hood the lady had worn covered most of her face except the lower part of her face. However, from just the lower part of her face one can already be sure about her beauty. As it was rare for such an attractive lady to come to such a place alone, all eyes on the bar were already on her.

The lady, unfazed by all the eyes staring at her, ordered some wine and food and sat on a table in a corner of the bar. After the food was served, she promptly paid up.

"That... That's a lot of money. Is it really all right?"

"That includes lodging. Do you have any empty rooms?"

An elegant voice replied. The shopkeeper nodded his head and left her table. Several of the male patrons looked at each other and approached her table.

"Excuse me miss, it's dangerous for you to be here alone."

"That's right! There are lots of dangerous characters around. Don't worry though, we'll be here to protect you."

With a vile smile on his face, one of them lifted up the lady's hood. Whistles and catcalls could be heard once the hood was removed. The lady was quite a beauty, with her beautiful eyes and elegant nose.

This beautiful lady is none other than Fouquet of the crumbling earth.

"She's really top notch! Look at her skin! It's as white as ivory!"

Another patron attempted to lift up her chin with his arm, but his hand was pushed away by Fouquet. Fouquet gave a faint smile. Another male patron immediately stood up, took out his dagger and placed it on Fouquet's face.

"Aren't chairs supposed to be used instead of weapons at this joint?"

"This is only to frighten you. Chairs can't intimidate anybody right? Don't act so innocent anymore, aren't you here to look for company? We'll keep you company then."

Even with the dagger pointed on her face, Fouquet showed no fear. With a slight movement, she reached for a wand.

In a instant, she chanted her incantations. With that, the dagger that the man held turned into earth and settled onto the table.

"She's.. she's a noble!"

The men immediately backed away from her. As Fouquet was not wearing a cloak, none of them knew that she was a magician.

"Even though I'm a magician, I'm not a noble," Fouquet said nonchalantly.

"Most of you are mercenaries right?"

The male patrons looked at each other. If she was not a noble, their lives would not be endangered. If they had done that to a noble, they would be killed without any qualms.

"Yes... And you are...?" a veteran of the group replied.

"It doesn't matter. In short, I'm here to hire all of you."

"All of us?"

The mercenaries looked at Fouquet with a puzzled look on their face.

"What's with the expression? Is it really that weird for me to employ mercenaries?"

"No. That's not what I meant. You have gold, don't you?"

Fouquet placed a bag full of gold onto the table. After inspecting the contents of the bag, the veteran said, "Wow... Isn't this écu gold?"

The bar's door opened again. This time, a man wearing a white mask had entered the bar. He was the same man who had helped Fouquet escape from prison.

"Well, aren't you early."

Fouquet seeing that man, gave a low "Hmm" as a reply. The mercenaries, seeing that man's peculiar dressing, were all quite surprised. "They have started on their journey," the masked man said.

"I have done what you had told me to and hired all these men."

The man in the white mask gave a once over at the mercenaries that Fouquet had hired.

"All of you were formerly employed by the Albion royalist. Am I right?"

"That was until last month," one of the mercenaries replied with glee.

"But the soon to be defeated royalist aren't our employers anymore."

The mercenaries laughed in unison. The man in the white mask laughed as well.

"I'll fulfill all your monetary desires. However, I'm not like the soon to be defeated royalists, if anyone dares to run away from battle, I'll kill him myself."

／人◕ .◕人＼

Since departing from the magical academy, Wardes' griffin had been endlessly moving towards their destination. Even though the Guiche had already changed his mount twice, Wardes' griffin just like its master, appeared to be tireless.

And so did Dante and his vehicle, as it was able to easily keep up with the griffin.

"Hold on, isn't the pace too fast for us?" Louise, who was on Wardes' griffin, asked. Over the duration of the journey, Louise spoke in a more informal manner to Wardes than when they were reunited. But that was also partly due to the Viscount's request.

"Guiche is already on the brink of exhaustion."

Wardes turned back and looked at Guiche. Just like Louise had said, he holding his reins tightly in fear of falling off. From the looks of it, he would collapse from exhaustion before the horse would.

"But I had originally planned to journey to port city La Rochelle without stopping..."

"That would be difficult, it would take two days to reach by horse."

"If that's the case, why don't we just leave them behind?"

"We can't do that!"

"Why?"

"Aren't we in this together? Furthermore, a magician should not abandon her familiar.. in my case my guardian being..."

"You seem protective of them both. Which one is your sweetheart?"

Louise's face immediately turned red and replied, "What... What sweetheart!"

"That sets my heart at ease. If my fiancé tells me that she already has a sweetheart, I would die of a broken heart," replied Wardes with a smile.

"But that was only something that our parents had agreed on."

"Then, do you dislike me, my small and dainty Louise?"

"Please, I'm not young anymore," Louise replied, pouting.

"But in my eyes, you're forever that small and dainty Louise."

Louise remembered that dream that she'd had a few days back, where she was back in the courtyard of her home, la Vallière.

The secret boat on the forgotten lake...

Whenever she was throwing a tantrum there, Wardes would always be there to pacify her.

The marriage that was decided by her parents.

The betrothal that was decided since youth. The one that she would be married to. Her fiancé.

At that time, she still did not fully understand what was going on. She only knew that, so long as she was with the man she had admired, she would be happy.

But now, she finally understood everything. She would be married to Wardes.

"I don't dislike you," Louise replied with a tinge of embarrassment.

"That's wonderful, in other words, you like me?"

Wardes gently hugged Louise's shoulders.

"I have never forgotten about you even after all this time. Do you still remember? After my father's death during the lancer campaign?"

Louise nodded her head.

Wardes began to reminisce and narrated to Louise about the past.

"My mother had passed away earlier, I inherited my father's estate and title. Wanting to make a name for myself, I went to the capital. Fortunately, the highness had a deep impression of my father who had perished in the battlefield, I was incorporated into the Griffin Knights. I had entered the Griffin Knights as a trainee, training was tough then.

"From then on, you seldom went back to your estate again," replied Louise while closing her eyes. She too seemed to be immersed in her memories.

"My house and estate were cared for by butler Galgann while I put all my effort serving the nation. After so long, I finally made a name for myself, accomplishing what I had decided upon leaving my homeland."

"What was that you have decided upon?"

"To ask your hand for marriage once I have made a name for myself."

"You're kidding right, Viscount? You're so popular among the girls, you have no need to honor your promise to such an insignificant me."

About Wardes' betrothal. Louise had cleanly forgotten it until she had that dream a few days back. The bridal pact to Wardes was all but a fleeting dream. In her opinion, it was only a agreement made on a whim.

After Wardes had left his estate ten years ago, Louise had never seen him again. Wardes had already became part of her distant memory. Distant memories had suddenly became reality.

"This journey is a good chance for us to regain those feeling we had when you were young," Wardes said with a gentle and calm tone.

Louise thought to herself, do I really love Wardes?

Even though she did not dislike him and she did admire him when she was young, that was all in the past.

Suddenly faced with a fiancé and probably marriage, she did not know what to do. Furthermore, they had been apart for so many years, she did not really know whether if she still had any feelings for him.

Louise turned her head and looked behind.

She saw Guiche prostrating on the horse, it looked like he had nearly reached his limit. Louise pouted her lips. Good for nothing! And he even proudly volunteered for this mission.

"I have already been on these horses for nearly a whole day, don't you guys get tired? Are those griffin knights monsters?" Guiche, who was currently lifelessly slouching on the back of the motorbike as Dante took him off his mount, asked.

He doesn't realize, he's riding along with a real one.

"Who knows?" Dante deadpanned. He felt something strange each time Wardes touched Louise.

'He touched her again...this time hugging her by the shoulder... What is that guy up to... Even though you're Louise's fiancé, even though I have no right to stop you, you should have at least done it somewhere else where I could not see...'

Each time Dante thought of that, he became more agitated.

Guiche looking at Dante in such a state, began teasing him. "Heh heh... Don't tell me you're jealous?" Guiche said with a snicker.

"What are you implying?"

"I guessed it correctly, didn't I?" Guiche laughed even harder.

Far from it.

"Shut your mouth, mole boy!" Dante growled in an otherworldly voice

That shut the fop up.

Silence

Guiche suddenly looked to the front and exclaimed, "Look Master! They're kissing!"

Dante immediately turned to the front. However, Wardes and Louise did not kiss.

He then looked again at Guiche. Guiche was barely controlling his laughter.

"You're getting braver now are you?" Dante growled, grabbed Guiche's neck by one hand and let him hang out the side like a chicken about to be decapitated.

"Hey! If you guys continue fooling around, I'll have to leave you both behind!" Wardes shouted.

"Just get a move on already." Dante called out, "We'll keep up."

Dante turned to his passenger, "Hope you just ate a light lunch earlier."

At the statement Wardes urged the griffin to go faster, and Dante simply managed to keep up with the beast with his Sleipnir,

In no time at all, they reached the outskirts of La Rochelle before nightfall.

Dante looked around in astonishment.

'Aren't we approaching a port? So why do I still see mountains everywhere?'

Traveling under the moonlight, Dante and the group finally saw a narrow mountain pathway. Buildings which were carved from boulders could be seen on both sides of the pathway.

"Why is a port built on top of a mountain?"

Hearing Dante asking, Guiche replied sarcastically "Don't tell me that you don't even know where Albion is?"

Dante hits him on the upside with a stone he kicked up from the road.

"I have a slight idea but still had to see it for myself."

"Really?" Guiche replied sheepishly rubbing the hit part of his head.

Suddenly from top of the cliff, torches were thrown at their path. The burning torches illuminated the ravine they were about to cross.

"What's... What's happening !" Guiche cried.

Dante sighed.

The noble's griffin goes further and further from them, apparently unaware of what is happening below.

Dante grits his teeth as he skids the bike to a stop.

"Boy, time to show what you learned from training." Dante turned serious at the boy, as he motioned Guiche to get off the vehicle.

As they got off, a hail of arrows showered upon them.

"It's an ambush!" Guiche shouted.

'No shit,' Dante thought as he scanned the surrounding area where the assailants are hiding.

Dante sighed just as he had his hand on Derflinger, two more arrows flew towards him.

"Crap!"

Just as Dante is about to get some action, a strong gust of wind blew towards them, changing into a small hurricane.

That same hurricane caught all the arrows and sent them away.

Wardes raised his wand.

"Are you guys all right?" Wardes shouted.

"Yeah, peachy..." replied Dante as he was about to put down the sentient weapon back to its sheath.

"I'm so lonely, partner. It's too much of you to keep putting me inside the scabbard."

"Shut up, Derf."

Dante looked at the top of the cliff, but no arrows could be seen.

"It was most likely thieves or bandits." Wardes said.

Louise who suddenly realizing something exclaimed, "Could it be the nobles from Albion?"

"Nobles would not use arrows."

Just then, the sound of flapping wings could be heard. It was a sound that they were quite familiar with...

Screams could be heard from the cliffs.

Arrows could be seen shooting towards the night sky. However, all the arrows were parried away by wind magic.

After that a small hurricane created by magic blew away all the archers.

"Hmm... Aren't those wind incantations?" Wardes mumbled to himself.

The archers attempting to ambush them rolled down the cliffs after being blown away by the magical tornado. They landed hard onto the ground, giving out moans of pain.

With the moon as the background appeared a familiar sight. "It's Sylphid!" Louise shouted confoundedly.

It's was Tabitha's wind dragon. After it landed, a red-haired girl jumped down from the dragon and flicked her hair.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Louise too jumped down from Wardes' griffin and replied, "What do you mean sorry to keep you waiting! Why are you here in the first place?"

"Not to help you in any case. When I saw you leaving the academy on the horse in the morning, I quickly woke up Tabitha and followed you all the way here."

Kirche pointed at Tabitha, from the looks of it she was woken up from her sleep; she was still wearing her pajamas. But she didn't seem to mind at all, and was still reading a book.

"Zerbst! Listen to me, we're on a secret mission given to us by her highness!"

'That Idiot.' Dante thought of what Louise just did.

"Secret mission? You should have said so earlier! How would I know if you did not tell me about it? Anyways, be thankful to me, for I have apprehended the people who wanted to ambush you!"

Kirche said while pointed to the people who were lying on the ground. Those ambushers were unable to move due to their injuries and hurled abuses towards Louise and the group. Guiche approached them and began interrogating them.

Louise crossing her arms, gave a vicious stare at Kirche.

"Don't be mistaken! I'm not here to assist you. Am I right?"

Kirche posed suggestively, and then leaned on Wardes, who was on the griffin, and said, "Your beard makes you very manly. Do you know what passion looks like?"

Wardes glanced at Kirche and proceed to push her away using his left hand.

"Huh?"

"Thank you for coming to our aid, but please do not get so close to me ever again."

"But why? I just told you that I liked you!"

That was the first time that Kirche received such cold treatment from a male. Usually any male would be mesmerized after some sweet-talking from her. But Wardes was not in the least interested. Kirche gazed at Wardes with her mouth wide open.

"I'm sorry. But I cannot let my fiancé misunderstand." Wardes said while looking at Louise, her face turned red from embarrassment in an instant.

"What? She's your fiancé!"

Wardes nodded in response. Kirche took a closer look at Wardes, she did not realize it before. Wardes' eyes showed no emotion at all. Just like ice.

She then looked at Dante. He was currently ignoring them inspecting the area and the beat-up bandits.

Eh? Is he looking like that because I made advances on Louise's fiancé? As she thought about that, Dante suddenly looked cuter. Looking at Dante, she ran towards him and hugged him immediately.

"Actually, I'm here because I'm worried for my beloved!"

'Yeah, right.' Dante reflected as started to put up a theory…but for now he'll just play around,

"Liar." The devil hunter sulkingly said, doing an uncharacteristic pout.

'What the heck am I doing?' he inwardly berated himself.

But in the Germanian girls mind…

Is he jealous? Thinking of that, Kirche's passion in her heart burned brightly.

"Cute! So cute! Are you really jealous?"

"I'm not..."

"I'm so sorry for neglecting you. You must be angry, right?" Kirche said while pushing Dante's face into her breasts.

"Please forgive me! I may have looked at other men, but in the end, the only one that I love is you!"

Louise bit her lips, wanting to tell Kirche off. She could not tolerate Kirche for seducing her guardian being.

Just then, Wardes gently placed his hands on Louise's shoulder. Wardes looked at Louise lovingly and gave her a smile.

"Viscount..."

Guiche who was interrogating those ambushers had just returned.

"Viscount, those ambushers admitted that they were robbers."

"Hmm.. If they're just robbers, let them go."

Wardes effortlessly mounted back to the top of his griffin, carrying Louise up with him. He then announced to everyone, "We'll spend the night at La Rochelle, tomorrow we will take the first ship to Albion at the break of dawn."

Kirche sat behind Dante, sharing the motorbike with him. The exhausted Guiche now mounted on Sylphid with Tabitha. As for Tabitha, she was still reading her book on her wind dragon.

In front of them, sandwiched between two cliffs, was the port city La Rochelle, dazzling with lights.

／人◕ .◕人＼

A Rest Day Before Leaving…

Tired from riding all day, they had decided to rest at the fanciest hotel in the city of La Rochelle, the Goddess's Temple. It was a very fancy place even for a noble. The dining tables and floor were both made from the same marble and the floor was so clean that one could see their own face on it.

Wardes and Louise came back from the pier.

When Wardes sat down he said hesitantly, "The ship for Albion leaves the day after tomorrow."

"This mission is very urgent..." Louise pointed.

Dante and the rest finally relaxed, knowing tomorrow they could rest.

"I have never been to Albion so I do not know why there is no ship tomorrow."

Wardes looked at Kirche and answered to her, "Are the moons overlapping tomorrow? If so, then Albion should be closest to La Rochelle"

Dante wondered how it might be related to the ebb and flow of the tide. The ebb and flow were regulated by the movement of the moon. But then again, this is another world.

Wardes put the keys on the table, "Let's rest for now, take the keys. Tabitha and Kirche take one room, Guiche and Dante take another."

Guiche stares at the bored-looking Dante rather fearfully.

Wardes continued, "Louise and I will be sharing a room."

The devil hunter felt something strange again and he turned towards Wardes.

"Really?" Dante deadpanned, and quirks an eyebrow at the statement.

"It is the obvious arrangement as Louise and I are engaged."

Louise looked at Wardes in shock and said, "B-but we can't! We're not even married yet!"

Dante shrugged, 'it's your choice, either way.'

But Wardes shook his head and told Louise, "There is something important I have to tell you."

／人◕ .◕人＼

Later…

Wardes and Louise stayed in the best room in the hotel. They wondered who designed the room. There was an enormous four-poster bed with delicate lace hanging from the top. Wardes sat down at the table, opened a bottle of wine and poured himself a cup. He chugged it down and said, "Why don't you sit down and have a cup as well, Louise?"

Louise sat down as well. He poured one for Louise and refilled his own. He then raised his cup and said, "Cheers!" Louise however held hers in her hands and bowed down her head.

Wardes asked, "Did you keep the princess's letter safe?"

Louise patted her pocket and to make sure it was still there, I wonder why it is so important. What is in this letter? Does the prince already have a letter ready? I think I figured out a small part of it. Being Henrietta's childhood friend, I know how she writes her letters.

Wardes looked at Louise with wonder. Then Louise nodded and said, "The letter is still safe. Are you worried that we might not be able to get the letter from the prince of Albion?"

"Yes, I am very worried." Wardes answered.

Louise arched her lovely eyebrows and said, "Don't worry; it will be fine because I'll always be with you."

"That's right; if you're here there will definitely be no problems. It was always that way."

Wardes sounded very distant when he said that.

"Do you still remember the promise of the day when we were at the lake?" Louise asked.

He nodded his head, "In the little boat that was floating in the middle of lake? You would always go there after being scolded by your parents. You were like an abandoned kitten."

"Really? You remember the weirdest things."

Wardes replied happily, "Of course I have to remember those things. You were always compared to your sisters in terms of magical power."

Louise lowered her head embarrassed and he said, "But I think that's wrong. You are worthless and a failure, but..."

"You are so mean!" Louise said angrily.

"You have an incredible power that nobody else has. I know this because I am a different kind of magician." Wardes finished ignoring what Louise said.

"That's impossible!"

Wardes replied, "But it is possible. For example whenever you use your magic...and your familiar."

Louise's face turned red and said, "What about Dante?"

"Yes, the runes on him. Those runes are legendary."

"Legendary?"

"Yes, those runes belong to the legendary familiar Windalfr. The familiar that once belonged to Founder Brimir." Wardes' eyes shone with admiration.

Louise asked, "Windalfr?"

"Not just anyone can control Windalfr. You have the magic to control him."

"That's hard to believe." Louise tilted her head and thought that Wardes was joking around.

Besides that, Dante is beyond her control, and just hangs around only by his whim.

Louise shook her head, thinking Wardes was joking. It is true that Dante's skills are beyond normal, and is extremely strong, but to say he is the legendary familiar is unbelievable. If it is really like that, then something must be wrong. I am after all "Louise the Zero".

Unfortunately for her, she already knows her about her legendary element. So she can't deny his words.

"You could become a great mage. Yes, like Founder Brimir, and leave your name in history as a great mage. I believe so."

Wardes gazed at Louise warmly.

"After this mission, marry me Louise"

"Ah…"

The sudden marriage proposal left Louise speechless.

"I am not satisfied to be just a mage captain of the Magic Knights... I want to become a noble that will move the whole of Halkeginia some day."

"B-but..."

"But what?"

"I... I am still... still"

"You are not a child anymore, you are 16 years old. You have reached the age when you can decide things. Your father agreed too. So..."

Wardes abruptly stopped here. Then he looked up and brought his face close to Louise.

"It is true, I never came to look for you, and I have to apologize. Marriage is not something to be spoken of easily, this I also know. But Louise, to me you are the most important of all."

"Lord Wardes…"

Louise thought about it. Why did a certain someone's face keep popping in her mind? Who the heck is this guy? And another thing, after marrying Wardes, will she have to leave Dante as her guardian being?

'I don't understand why, but I constantly feel this is wrong. If it was a crow or owl type of familiar it wouldn't be so troublesome. If no one takes care of this idiot, what will happen to him? Probably destroying a city on a whim…'

Kirche or… Dante doesn't know Louise knows, the maid from the kitchen who often fed him… They will take care of him right?

I don't understand why but this is extremely annoying. Louise thought, just a like small girl she wanted to have Dante all to herself. 'Although Dante is scary sometimes, an idiot most of the time and often wakes me in strange ways, but I don't want him to become someone else's property. He is mine.'

She wondered why she is thinking this way…

Louise raised her head.

"Still… Still…"

"Still?"

"That... that I am not a mage of your caliber yet, I still need to study…"

Louise lowered her head, kept it low and murmured. She had just learned her element and still trying to master the basic spells as of now.

"Wardes, when I was young, that is what I always thought, someday, I must make everyone recognize me, become a great mage, and make my mother and father proud."

Louise raised her head, staring at the older man.

"I, I still cannot reach that yet."

"Is it because someone already stole your heart?"

"It is nothing like that, there's no chance for that to happen!" Louise denied in a panic.

"It's not important, I understand, I understand. For now, I won't ask for an answer. But, after this journey is over, I will certainly lighten your heart."

Louise nodded in reply.

"In that case, let's go to bed, you are already tired right?"

Suddenly, Wardes came close to Louise, wanting to kiss her.

Instantly, Louise's body stiffened. Then she pushed Wardes away.

"Louise?"

"I'm sorry... But, things like...that..."

Louise pridefully stared at Wardes. He smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"I am not in a hurry"

Louise lowered her head again.

'Why, even though Wardes is so gentle, handsome and strong, even though I longed for him for such a long time... Yet, I am not even happy when I am being proposed to.'

Someone else already caught her heart. But Louise's mind refused to think about the one that caught it.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Outside the window, Dante had his hand around the window bars, quietly looking at Louise and Wardes' room.

He observed everything inside the room. Peeking through the curtains, the devil hunter saw two figures sitting by the table.

What are they talking about? Every time Wardes' face got closer to Louise, Dante felt like rushing in and destroy the man. Every time when the two appeared to be about to kiss, Louise always denied the kiss.

Dante felt like a father with a need to protect his precious daughter from the world's dirtiness.

"Ah, closing in again, this asshole, ah, so it is like that!" he whispered, readying the Ivory for an instant assassination.

Derflinger quietly muttered.

"It's nice to be a dad."

"Shut up."

"My partner sticks like a spider to the window, peeking at the girl whom he treated as a daughter, and her lover having a cheerful talk. It is so shameful it hurts and almost makes me cry!"

"What is so good about that kind of girl for a daughter? Explosive temper, treats me like a monster at times, and a weird personality." Dante complained

"Then why are we peeking?"

"I am only worried, just worried that's all."

With these words something fell on Dante from above.

Pa-ta

It landed on his shoulders, covering his face and obscuring his vision.

It's rather warm. He knew the feeling.

Dante sighed,

"What are you doing here? Do you like to take strolls on the wall? Geez, took me forever to find you."

It was Kirche who landed on his shoulder, and our hero's eyes were blinded because his face was covered by the Germanian's mini-skirt.

"Please, get off me." Dante replied as he pulled his face out of Kirche's skirt.

"Why, is it not good? Hey, what are you looking at?"

Kirche took one look at the window, turned around to face Dante again and put her arms around him: "No, don't peek at newlyweds, we shouldn't care about them"

"This is what I think; a quiet date on the wall is so romantic. Look how beautiful the lights from the city are; don't you think they are cheering for us?"

"First thing first, you get off."

The two tried to wriggle their ways out when suddenly the window slammed open. Dante remained frozen in place and sticking to the wall like a crimson spider, as if it is just natural for him to be there.

"Yo, Nice night to have a walk isn't it?" Dante greets her with a brief wave.

One look and we can see Louise with her hands placed on her hips. But, her lovely face twisted into a demonic mask, staring at Kirche and the devil hunter.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING NEXT TO MY WINDOW?"

Dante leaps away from the window in a speed and height no normal human could do and lands on the neighboring roof. At the same time Kirche, with her legs around his shoulders, clung closely to him as if getting some weird piggyback ride.

Without a question - this looked suspicious, but pretty amazing too.

"Can't understand it even after you see it? This is a date."

Dante tried to say something, but his lips were covered by Kirche's hands, making him look puzzled. Louise's shoulders start to quake in fury.

"Go, go, go, go have romance somewhere else. You, you, you two stray dogs!"

"But darling wants to have a date here."

Kirche replied triumphantly.

'Why the heck would a normal couple would be dating in such a place?' Dante thought,

In an instant, a wine bottle flew in their direction, Dante ducked and then stepped away, with Kirche still perched on his shoulders, and almost nearly fell off the roof.

Then he howled in rage as he regained his balance, now carrying the blushing Kirche, bridal style.

"DAMMIT, DO REALLY YOU WANT TO KILL ME?"

"Someone like you who doesn't understand kindness deserves to DIE!"

"What kindness are you talking about?"

Wardes sat in his room and watched the whole thing with amusement.

But upon focusing his vision on the devil hunter, his eyes narrowed.

A distance from the inn, hidden in the foliage of the trees, a shrouded form observes the event. A single eye glows in the darkness.

"Dante…" it whispered, voice resounding like a bell tolling for the dead.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Author's notes:

Dos Equis Man: I Don't know what this means.

Please review,


	11. Mission 11 : Suspicion

Authors' rant:

I need a better job so as to be able to post more often of this; I really want to do so but …

… X D

Fleshing out a tale here…

Quite boring actually…

For now,

Lets begin…

Mission 11: Suspicion

／人◕ .◕人＼

Fantasy Pic: Dante lays on a bed with Henrietta on top of him on all fours, wearing nothing but his red twintailed longcoat exposing a bit of her "curves"so to speak.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Second day, Dante woke up to someone knocking on his door. Since Guiche was still sleeping soundly on the bed next to him, without another choice the devil hunter could only climb out of the bed to answer.

There is no ship today, I wanted to spend the day sleeping, geez.' Dante thought angrily, scratching his head lazily as he opened the door.

Wardes with fully dressed, his usual hat looked down at Dante, though he is about the same height as the knight. Clearly he's testing the devil hunter's tolerance.

"Good morning, familiar."

With Louise's fiancé calling him like this made the devil hunter a little annoyed.

Dante replied, "Morning, but the departure date is tomorrow right? Do you have anything important to say this morning? I've been riding all day yesterday, I still want to sleep."

Wardes only smiled faintly.

"Are you the Familiar of the legend?"

"What?"

Dante stared at Wardes looking stoic as he did.

Wardes was trying to clear something, and bent his head and said, "That case with Fouquet, I hold a great interest in you. I asked Louise earlier, I heard you are from another world and I also heard you are the legendary Windalfr."

"Is that so?"

'Who talked about Windalfr anyway? Old Osman shouldn't have talked about this.'

"I find history and warfare extremely interesting. When Fouquet was captured, I became very interested in you. Then I did some research in the Imperial Library. The result of that research is my discovery that you are the legendary familiar Windalfr."

"Oh, is that so. You are really a scholar."

'Yeah, and I'm Freddie Mercury.' Dante thought.

He really disliked this man.

At least that's the only thing he knows is the name of the Familar.

"I want to know how strong is the person who captured Fouquet; can you show it to me?"

"Show you, huh?" Dante deadpans, with his morning already broken.

Wardes pulled out his wand from his belt, "Let me put it this way."

"A duel." Dante replied with an icy grin.

"Exactly."

Wardes and Dante smiled together. Taking one look at the still sleeping Guiche, the devil hunter thought,

'I am not sure just how strong this Wardes is. Although he is the Captain of the Magic Knights, and looks like he has some abilities too. He should prove a more interesting match that Guiche or the Golem.'

'Wanna play? Let's play then.' Dante thought.

"Where do you want to duel?"

"This hotel used to be a castle designed for repelling Albion invasions, there is a parade ground in the center of it."

The two then left for the parade ground for nobles together. The ancient practice ground was now a place for debris and refuse with empty beer barrels and crates scattered all over the place. It was hard to believe that a long time before that royal flags with staffs cut from stone were decorating this wasteland.

"Before, maybe you don't know, under the reign of Philip III, this often used to be a place to host duels between nobility."

Dante yawned, as he took out Derflinger from his shoulder and put it across his shoulders.

"In a time long ago, the king still had the power to duel, Nobles from the king's time… a time when Nobles were noble. Who risked life for fame and honor, we nobles fought with magic. But it is usually fought over boring issues, right, as if the two were fighting for a lover."

Dante remained stoic as he listened to the lecture,

"So, are we gonna stand around and have a history lesson, or are we going to fight?" Dante asked,

Wardes stopped him from talking further with his left hand.

"What?"

"There are certain rules regarding duelling, we don't have a witness here."

"Witness, huh?"

"One is coming" Wardes replied, and Louise appeared from nearby. She was dumbfounded as she saw the two.

"Wardes, you called me over and I came, what are you two preparing to do?"

"I want to test his abilities a little."

"Really, let's stop this nonsense. Now is not the time for these kind of stupidities."

"It is true, but this guy wants a duel, he wants to find out if I am strong or weak. So, I obliged."

Knowing that the devil hunter will not listen anyway, Louise stared at her guardian being and tried to placate the situation one last time,

"Stop now, that is an order."

Dante did not reply, only stared at Wardes. And said,

"Well?"

"Since the witness is here, let us begin."

Wardes pulled out his wand from his belt again, entered a combat stance, with his wand pointing at Dante.

Dante responded, "I'm not that reliable, so I don't know how to go hard or light."

Wardes responded with a light laughter, "No problem, hit me with everything."

'If I actually did that, you'll end up as a smear on the wall.' He thought,

Dante pulled out Derflinger and leapt forward with a slash. The magic knight parried the attack with his wand, and the two weapons rang solidly as steel clashed steel, sending sparks in all directions. While Wardes' weapon was merely a small wand, he was able to block Dante's long sword without a sweat.

'Nice. Good form there.' The devil hunter grinned to himself.

He can't put his finger on it but there's something off about the whole thing, such as this duel.

One would have expected Wardes to retreat backward, but no one expected the hurricane-like wind that was caused when the two clashed, and Wardes' increased speed as he charged toward Dante. The devil hunter responded with a chopping strike that broke Wardes' advance, with the black cape of the Magic Knights flipping in the wind. The captain in response leapt a few steps back, and then reversed back to his stance.

'Why isn't this guy using his magic?' Dante thought.

Derflinger mumbled in response, "He is looking down on you, as someone not worth casting spells on."

'Oho, is that so. Let's turn this up a notch then.' Dante thought,

With only one exchange, the devil hunter could tell the difference between Guiche and Wardes.

"A Magic Knight isn't someone who only chants magic." Wardes answered with a tip of his hat.

"The way we chant is fully specialized for battle, the way we hold our wands, the motion we use to charge… the way we use our wands as swords, complete with spellcraft. This is the basic of the basics for soldiers."

"Thanks for the lecture. Shall we continue?" Dante taunts

Dante lowered his body slightly, and began to spin his blade like a windmill, a simple Prop Shredder and Dante lunges the spinning sword. Wardes apparently already saw through Dante's attack style, and parried the next attack without even taking a breath.

"You are really fast; no one can mistake you for a commoner, truly the familiar of the legends." Blocking Dante's follow-up blow, Wardes used his wand and swung at the back of Dante's head, but Dante twists out of the way and gives a swift kick to the knight's midsection, sending the knight five feet through the air.

"I always thought, Nobles are pansies, but looks like I'm wrong." Dante comments as Wardes stood up from the kick as if it was only a slight annoyance.

Dante leapt forward like a bullet and released a brand new assault. He attacked using the powered down, running version of the Stinger. A powerful lunge with the sword positioned for a direct stab towards the center of the target's body.

But, with one step aside and a jump, Wardes barely dodges Dante's attack with the speed of the wind.

"If this is all you can do, you are unable to protect Louise." For the first time, Wardes entered combat stance, with a speed impossible for a normal person to track, launched an attack on Dante. Just as the devil hunter realized what was going on, he took the full attack head on.

"Dell yill soll la windy." With one hand waving the sparking wand, Wardes chanted with a low voice.

Dante realized Wardes' movement and attack all followed a pattern.

"Partner! Bad news! Magic is coming!" Derflinger screamed, when he realized the whisper chant was magic…

Bam, suddenly the winds rushed together, creating an invisible force that slammed into Dante with the strength of a hammer, knocking him a good 10 meters away and into a pile of beer barrels, smashing all of them as he crashed down.

What a waste of beer.

In the instant Dante landed on the beer barrels he dropped his sword. As he tried to retrieve the weapon, Wardes stepped on it, and then struck Dante with the wind magic charged wand. Derflinger screamed "Get your foot of me!", but Wardes paid it no heed and spoke, "Did you find out who is the winner and loser?"

Dante looked unconscious as he lay on the ground.

Louise fearfully came over.

"Do you understand Louise? He cannot protect you." Wardes told her calmly.

"Because... because aren't you the commander of the Magic Knights? The secret group that was assigned to protect the queen? Isn't it natural to be strong?"

"True, but aren't you going to Albion and might do battle? When you are surrounded by strong enemies, you also plan to say 'we are weak, please put away your wands?'"

Louise became silent, and then looked at Dante with worry. From his head came more fresh blood and the little girl drew out her handkerchief in a panic, but was stopped by Wardes.

"Leave him, Louise."

Wardes grabbed on to Louise's hands.

"But…"

"Let's leave him there for a bit."

Louise hesitantly bit her lips for a moment and, with another tug from Wardes, was forced to follow him.

But before they could completely leave, a voice caused the two to look back.

"Are you done?" Dante boredly asks, causing Wardes to be on his guard.

Wardes is flabbergasted as the devil hunter simply standing up from where he fell, dusted his clothes, looking no worse than he woke up earlier.

'Wasn't he bleeding profusely just now?' Wardes thought,

'Just who is this man Louise had summoned?'

Without a word, Dante picks up Derflinger, replaces it on the scabbard, and proceeds to leave the court.

He stops, looks back at the silenced two, and said as he smirked, "For the record, I just let you win."

And as the devil hunter stated his side, it seemed like Dante's image for an instant flickered and appeared beside Wardes tapping his shoulder, while sporting a grim visage.

All in a split second, that Wardes actually dismissed it as Dante's intimidation affecting his nerves, which is so unlikely.

But in Louise's vision, Dante didn't move at all.

"I am quite capable of protecting her as much as you do." Dante smirked, holding up one of his coat buttons.

Wardes looks at his apparel, and indeed found one of his shirt buttons missing.

Dante then tosses the button back to him without a word.

The devil hunter then turns and walks off back into the hotel, like a boss.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Derflinger quipped, "That was awesome!"

Dante didn't respond. There's definitely something wrong with this arrangement.

"But why didn't you go all out at him anyway? I mean you could easily mangle him up if you wish."

Yet, even if this was true, Dante said nothing.

"Hey, I remember something, what was it? It happened a long time ago… Oh that! Wait!"

Dante put Derflinger back to his sheath, silencing it in the process. Dusting off his pants one more, the devil hunter steps forward.

He needs some more shuteye.

／人◕ .◕人＼

That night, Dante stared at the moon from his balcony window. Guiche and company were drinking in the bar on the first floor. Tomorrow they were heading for Albion, so everyone was partying below. Kirche came with an invitation, but he refused. Our hero had little heart for drinking now. Currently, he is nursing a glass of strawberry sundae which he stored within his infinity armory,

"Ah, at least I have you." He said to the dessert, taking a spoonful of the confectionary.

Apparently, the group could leave with the two moon eclipses; it was the day in which Albion was closest to the world.

Dante looked up to the starlit night sky, in the sea of stars, the pink moon hid behind the white moon, and thus became one moon sparking with a peach color. That moon reminded him of the one of his homeland, the moon of Earth.

As he stared at the moons, he heard something behind him.

"Hey."

Turning around, he saw Louise standing behind him with her arms crossed.

"Good eve, princess." Dante gives a brief wave.

"That's not right."

"What is not right?"

"Staying up here all alone."

"I've always worked alone before this."

Louise lowered her head.

"…I know, it is my fault."

"Nah, Don't sweat it. Actually I am grateful, I got to travel somewhere strange."

"Don't call my world strange. Besides you're uncharacteristically thoughtful tonight."

"Well besides that, why do you always act so high and mighty, especially in front of the others?

"There is nothing I can do about it, I am a member of the nobility, and if I don't do it there would be rumors."

Silence

"…What, you know you are very troublesome for me too. To have a magical partner that is not following orders."

"If you say so, then are you planning on sending me back to my world?" Dante playfully quipped back.

He's referring to the human world.

"…When this mission is over, I will do my best to find you a way home."

"You go do that, but I'm not holding my breath."

Louise put her arms around her belt, nodding her head in a cute expression.

"I am a member of the nobility, I will not lie."

"But what happens if I cannot find a way back?"

Her face reddened a little, Louise hardened her heart and replied, "…If that happens, I will ask you to continue to serve me."

"Even if you are married?"

"This has nothing to do with marriage."

Louise stared at Dante.

Dante commented with a little sarcastic humor, "Ok ok, a person like you, with such an awful personality and there is a person who is willing to marry you, that noble is really a miracle. You are really lucky."

Louise raised her arms with a tint of anger, "What? Didn't Kirche fall in love with you? That idiot can fall in love with you. Forget it, no matter what can be said, both of you are morons and would make a lovely pair."

The two turned away from each other. Louise closed her eyes, calmed herself and spoke, "In summary, during the time you are in Halkeginia, you are my guardian being. So regardless of the fact I get married or not, it is your duty to protect me and help me out in other duties."

The devil hunter turned around to face Louise.

Under that peach colored hair, Louise's tea-green eyes sparked with fury. Her normally pale face was also tinted with color of anger, which made her puckered lips extremely cute.

Dante smiled at the pinkette.

Louise held her hands together.

The red faced Louise.

The Louise who summoned him.

The Louise who confronted Fouquet's golem despite being a zero. The self-ashamed Louise that cries secretly when being called zero...'

Occasionally, Louise shows up as a real girl that combines courage, kindness and beauty in her person.

Dante thought really deeply, "Then why is it really this way?"

He finally understood, why he had been staring at the moon every night until tonight, yet never thinking devil hunting as of late.

Besides the fact that his mission is over in that place, at least he's planning to treat himself to live out as a way of rewarding himself once he returns to earth.

But for some strange reason, he's currently not interested.

But, he really hated wanting to admit this reason.

This really sucks!

Why would I…Dante could not stop the line of thought.

Spontaneously, Dante asked, "Why don't you just let Wardes protect you?"

"…." Louise is tongue tied,

Dante remained silent.

"You are MY GUARDIAN BEING right? Next time just beat him thoroughly already, whether he's my fiancé or not. A defeat is a defeat. That defeat would sully the la Vallière name."

Dante remained silent.

Louise then said angrily, "Ok, I understand. Do what you like, I will let Wardes protect me."

"Ok, be like that." Dante countered in deadpan voice, and this line made Louise even angrier.

"That person is really reliable. He won't make me worry. I don't have to tell a guardian being like you, but I will tell you now. Now I have decided, I will marry Wardes."

Louise looked at Dante, but Dante remained silent, not caring.

'What?' Louise thought.

"I am going to marry Wardes."

Louise repeated herself again, but Dante remained silent and didn't say anything. With his head staring up the moons,

At first she expected Dante to say something to stop her, but he didn't even say a single word.

"I heard it the first time. If you're asking for my opinion, just do what you think is right; if you like the guy then go ahead, if not then don't'. Other than that I don't have any other ideas about marrying since I have never been married before." Dante replied uninterestedly, waving her off as he continued to stare at the moon.

Well, that's a rather confusing opinion.

"A person like you should spend the rest of your life staring at the moon!" Louise howled as she dashed away.

Just at this moment…

"Crap." Dante groaned. Louise turned her head around, and to her surprise, something appeared that swallowed the moon, and it was nowhere to be seen.

Beneath the moon's shadow, there appeared to be a giant. If we looked at it closely, the huge shadow turned out to be a golem made of stone. The person controlling the golem turned out to be…

"Fouquet!" Dante and Louise said in unison. The figure above them sat on the golem's shoulder, cheerfully answered, "Oh, it is such an honor to be remembered!"

The sword on Dante's shoulder asked, "Shouldn't you be rotting in jail?"

Fouquet shouted back, "Somebody had a kind heart, a beauty like myself should be contriving to the welfare of the world, so they let me escape."

It was dark so not many people could see it, but there was a figure in the black cape of nobility standing next to the woman. Was that guy the person who helped her escape? The noble supported Fouquet's actions, but remained silent. Because the figure wore a mask, no one could see anything clear, but it appeared to be a man.

"…So you are someone who can't mind her own business, what are you doing here?" Dante brandished his sword with his left hand.

"I am here to thank you for the long vacation you gave me, I am here to send you my appreciation!"

Fouquet howled in laughter, as the huge golem pulverized the fence on the balcony with one hit. The fence was carved right out of solid stone, so it appeared the power of the golem had increased significantly.

"Calm down, it's just a little upgrade, no biggie." Dante quips,

"No one is trying to be calm here!"

Dante grabbed Louise, carried her like a bag of potatoes and ran away, escaping the room, and leaped down the stairs.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Meanwhile, the room below became a pandemonium.

Suddenly a group of soldiers came to assault Wardes and company who were drinking.

Guiche, Kirche, Tabitha and Wardes were using magic to defend themselves. However, there were too many people. It appeared every soldier from La Rochelle came attacking.

It seemed like they were losing.

Kirche broke one of the table's legs, and decided to use the table as a shield against the coming foes. The attacking soldiers were used to fighting magic-using foes already. While they were fighting, they observed Kirche and her allies range and style. Then moved out the magic's range to attack with bows. The soldiers hidden from the dark had the advantage of the field, leaving those inside the room a bitter battle.

If anyone stood up to chant magic, they were answered with a torrential volley of arrows.

Dante lowered his body, charged to Kirche's shield-table wall, letting her know Fouquet was above them and attacking, but the giant's huge feet were already visible, so there was no need to tell them.

The other nobles and guests were hiding under the counter and shaking in fear. The fat innkeeper called out to the soldiers, "What are you doing to my establishment?" But one arrow slammed into his shoulder, leaving him slumped on the ground.

"This is really troublesome." Listening to Wardes' words, Kirche nodded.

"It appears this band is not only just interested in a simple little robbery."

"Maybe Fouquet and Albion's nobles are behind this?"

Kirche raised her wand, and mumbled, "…Those guys are planning for us to use our magic, exhaust ourselves then come in with a charge, what can we do?"

"My Valkyries will protect us."

"Guiche, your Valkyries are only a small squad, these are seasoned mercenaries."

"If we don't try we will never know."

"But Guiche, if it comes to warfare I am a far better expert than you are."

"But I am the son of General de Gramont, how could I lose to this band of idiot soldiers?"

"This is intolerable, the nobles of Tristain are only tough with their words, but their actual combat capabilities are pretty weak."

Guiche stood up, preparing to chant his magic. But Wardes stopped him by grabbing on to the young noble's shirt.

"Everyone listen carefully." Wardes whispered. Dante quirked his eyebrow at the statement but along with the others, became silent to listen.

"This mission counts as complete if one half of the group arrives safely at the destination."

At this moment the cute Tabitha also closed her book and looked at Wardes' direction. The girl used her staff and pointed at herself, Kirche and Guiche and uttered one word, "Bait."

Then Tabitha continued and pointed at Dante, Wardes, and Louise, then uttered another word, "Go to the harbor."

"The time?" Wardes asked the young girl.

"We will carry it out right now."

"Just liked we planned a while ago, go from the backdoor."

"Ah? AH!" Louise shouted out in surprise.

"They are responsible for holding the situation; we should be able to confuse their sight. Using this time we should be able to escape toward the harbor, just like that."

"But…But…"

Dante looked at Kirche, and the girl ran her hand through her red hair. And puckered her lips then added, "Bah, can't help it anyway, we really didn't want to go to Albion with you anyway."

Guiche sniffed at his rose, "Heh, I might die here. What would happen then? If I die then I won't be able to meet Princess Henrietta again."

Tabitha nodded at Dante. "Go."

"Screw that, I'm staying," Dante said as he pulled himself to full height.

Kirche began to push Dante, "No, time for you to go. When you come back…I will let you ravage me."

"Nice promise, but I won't go either way, not with you kids in trouble." Dante said, as a dangerous aura emanated from the devil hunter causing the younger nobles to flinch.

"Wardes," Dante turned to the noble with the feather cap. "Keep them safe while I clean house, I'll catch up with you guys soon."

Wardes was awed for the first time as Dante begins to show why he should not be considered as any mere push-over.

／人◕ .◕人＼

The group fled from the bar into the kitchen and toward the other exit, and then there was a huge explosion behind them.

"…Looks like it has begun." Louise mouthed.

Wardes crouched close to the door, then listened at the situation outside.

"There doesn't appear to be anyone."

Opening the door, the party leapt into the night streets of La Rochelle.

"The docks are this way."

Wardes was in the lead, Louise followed behind. The rest came in the back.

Under the moonlight, the group's shadows extended, and followed closely behind.

／人◕ .◕人＼

After making sure Wardes and company were running, Dante strides towards the ambushers.

"Dear stupid mercenaries, although I have no idea why you're attacking us," Dante smiled and bowed in the rain of arrows, "please let me, Dante, odd jobs man, kick your asses!"

Then suddenly a huge cluster of arrows were fired at him at the same time.

'"Then we will fight in the shade."' Dante quoted in his mind.

Even though arrows were totally aimed at the devil hunter, he just calmly swats them off using his Royalguard techniques.

The steel arrowheads never had a chance to hurt the devil hunter as he blocked each and every shot they made. With his bare hands, a feat that looked scary for the bandits. Dante laughed, as he closed in to the first group of bandits, who are now shaking with fright.

"What the hell are you?" one of them managed to squeak out.

"Your worst nightmare," Dante declares ominously as he allowed his eyes to glow red and his aura radiates darkness, cracked his knuckles. He's now wearing one of his first Devil Arms, The Beowulf, a set of light powered gauntlets and greaves.

And they're hungry for someone to beat up.

Sounds of explosive thrashings and girly screams echoed across the town. Dante will not let these guys sleep soundly after this.

Let it not be said that Dante didn't show any mercy on the poor bastards.

After all, they're still alive enough afterwards to change their hearts as well as their career paths.

If it was Vergil on the other hand...

／人◕ .◕人＼

Meanwhile,

Sitting on her enormous earth golem's shoulder, Fouquet bit her lip in annoyance. The group she just ordered to attack instantly came back in confusion after being apparently thrown out. She turned to the hooded masked noble sitting beside her. "Geez, making a fuss just because of this ... hired hands just aren't dependable."

"That's enough anyway."

"But you can't beat them like this!"

"It's alright even if they can't. All they have to do is separate them."

"Even if you say so, I won't let this go on. I took so much humiliation because of them."

The hooded man did not answer, instead standing up as if he heard nothing, and talking to Fouquet, "Alright, I'm going after the Vallière girl."

"Then what am I going to do?" Fouquet answered in shock.

"Whatever you like. Burn or cook the rest, whatever. We'll meet up at the usual restaurant." He casually jumped off the golem's shoulder, disappearing into the darkness like the midnight wind, soft and chilling.

"Geez...what a laidback guy. Can't tell me anything he's thinking about." Fouquet spoke silently in disgust.

Moans came from the men below. Man after man flew right out of the inn as Dante like an ogre on the loose, punched and kicked them with a force unnatural to humans or mages. Even the archers hiding in the darkness felt the impact and are now trembling in fright.

A familiar voice echoed from within, "Hey, Hey, why are you all running? Is it your first time that someone actually beating the shit out of you? Don't worry I'll be gentle."

Fouquet yelled below her, "Dammit, that's enough! You're all useless! Get out of my way!"

The golem rose with a thundering noise, and moved towards the entrance, pulling punches as it advanced.

／人◕ .◕人＼

After seeing Dante soundly thrashed the bandits and archers within and sent them flying out, the group of archers outside fled, screaming like frightened schoolgirls, leaving their bows behind.

In a loud, thunderous noise, the entrance and beyond disappeared.

"Well now, I guess its time to meet an old friend." Dante said to himself, as he calmly surveyed the destroyed area, as well as the culprit, well, one of the culprits to the calamity.

A huge rock golem emerged from the flying dust, and easily kicked away the remains of the wall.

"Round two, lady." Dante shouted, giving the thief the flipped bird.

"Don't be too arrogant, fool! This time, you without the Staff of Destruction, is nothing more than a gnat. I'll finish you off for good!" Fouquet yelled in anger, standing on her golem's shoulder.

"Come and get it." Dante called out, as he dramatically draws one of his pistols, Ebony. He checked the chamber, cocked it, and finally aimed the gun at the rock golem.

On the golem's shoulder, Fouquet, seeing Dante aiming the black pistol at her creation, annoyingly complained, "What's this? Do you think that that puny gun will destroy my best golem yet?"

The golem raised a fist, and smashed the wall next to Dante in one blow.

"The next blow will flatten you." Fouquet threatened, mentally commanding her creation to crush the devil hunter, once and for all.

"As much as I want to have a nice foreplay with you, I need to catch up with my friends. So sorry if I want to end this real quick."

At that moment, Dante charged his pistol with great amount of magic to the point that the Ebony glowed with the reddish dark energy.

"Say Cheese." He smirked as he lets the charged bullet rip out of Ebony.

She was too late to realize that something was wrong. Dante's magical ammo which looked like a great fireball is already flying towards her golem.

In an instant the bullet hits the construct in the middle of the chest, the huge golem was covered in fire. Unable to withstand the heat and flames, the golem fell on its knees. Then a terrific explosion once again rocked the vicinity as the golem gets vaporized.

Seeing their employer in a losing position, the mercenaries fled like spiders. Dante blows the smoking holes of his gun, twirled and holstered them in a flash.

"SSSMOKIN…" he whispered the quip, he surveyed his handiwork.

A hideous Fouquet stood up in front of her burned golem. "H... how dare you... beat me, Fouquet, twice, with those abominable things..."

She looked pitiful. With much of her long, beautiful hair burned away, her robes singed with holes everywhere, and but at least her face was mercifully saved.

But not by much.

"I've heard of smoking hot women. But you my dear, took the term into another direction. "Dante said, walking towards the singed woman,

"You know, lady, that sour expression doesn't suit you! I mean... you look pretty old when you do that!" As Dante finished,

Fouquet this time didn't try any spells anymore, and simply moved straight at him.

"Call me old? You idiot, I'm only 23!" Fouquet tightened her fists, and tries to punch Dante, who easily caught the thrown fist.

"I think you need to cool off." Dante said as he plants a deep kiss to the thief, who at first struggled, then acquiesced at the advance, and finally faints in the pleasure.

"Yessirree. Even my lips are deadly wepons…" Dante said to no one in particular, and summons a rich golden white cloak from out of nowhere and cover the now damaged and unconscious lady. And as he removed the cloth, there is no trace of the thief whatsoever.

Meet one of the souvenirs he acquired from hell, the legendary Golden Fleece.

'Time to follow the rest.'

While Dante goes off to find the group's whereabouts, Wardes and company ran towards the harbor, their road illuminated by the bright moon. Wardes ran towards a certain building's long stairs, and began walking up them.

Dante suddenly appeared and joined them as they ran through the streets, much to their surprise.

And it seems like Kirche, Guiche and Tabitha were separated in the commotion.

After Dante managing to utterly annihilate the brigands, he could safely say they are safe.

His foresight could tell.

"Aren't we heading towards some 'harbor'? Why are we climbing a hill?" asked Dante.

Wardes did not answer.

After climbing a long flight of stairs, they arrived on top of a small hill. Seeing everything in front of him, Dante was pleasantly surprised.

It was a huge tree, branching out in every direction. It had the size of a mountain. How tall was it? The night covered its top, but it had considerable height. Dante looked at the tree as if it was the Eiffel Tower.

And then... taking a closer look between the branches, the tree seemed to be holding something even larger. A huge fruit? He was wrong. It was a ship. It looked like a lead colored zeppelin, stuck between the trees.

''Lead' Zeppelin?' Dante grins at the thought,

"This is the 'harbor'? And... that's the 'ship'?" Dante deadpans.

Louise replied in surprise. "Yeah... isn't your world like that?"

"Harbors and ships all stay on water in my world."

"If there are ships that sail on water, there are ships that sail in the air." Louise said matter-of-factly.

'Not in physics they don't.' Dante thought,

Wardes led the group as they ran to the tree's roots, which were as big and spacious as a skyscraper's lobby. They probably dug the middle out of a dead tree to make this.

It was night, so they couldn't see anyone. Between each flight of stairs were metal panels, with writing of some sort on them. Maybe station signs or something, the devil hunter thought.

Wardes began climbing the stairs in front of him.

One flight of wooden stairs was connected to another. There were scaffolding and supports on them, but they still looked worryingly dangerous. One could see La Rochelle's lights in the spaces between each flight of stairs.

In a rest stop midway, Dante heard footsteps behind them. He turned around, and a shadow jumped, flying over him and landed behind Louise.

It was the white-masked man on Fouquet's golem.

Dante pulled out his sword and cried, "LOUISE!"

Louise turned around. The man picked her up the next instant.

"Ahhhh-!" Louise screamed. Dante points his sword.

'But if I just slash it like that, I'll hit Louise. And besides that…'

The man carried Louise and jumped much like a acrobat would, his body moving wherever he wished.

Dante stood still. Beside him, Wardes waved his staff. The masked man, like Dante a while ago, was blown away, hit by Wardes' air hammer, and let Louise go. He held on to a support, but Louise fell towards the ground.

In an instant, Wardes jumped off from the platform, and dove towards Louise like a grebe. He caught up with her and floated in the air while carrying her.

Dante just strides to the side and carefully watched the man rescue his ward.

The masked man bent around, jumped on the platform, and faced Dante. His build was not too different from Wardes'. He pulled out a staff from his waist. It was a black staff.

After making sure Louise was safe, Dante went on guard, remembering his battle against Wardes. Swinging the sword around is outright dangerous, but he couldn't foresee what magic his opponent would use against him.

He draws Ivory and aims at the man.

The man waved his staff. The air above him began to cool. Freezing air irritated Dante's skin. What is he doing?

He could smell ozone. 'Crap.'

He continued to chant a spell. Dante raised his sword, but Derflinger yelled, "Get on guard, partner!"

As Dante got on guard, the air shook. There was a crack. Lightning emanated from the man and hit the devil hunter directly, most especially the arms.

"Fuck, its 'Lightning Cloud'!" Derflinger cried, recognising the spell. A strong current went through Dante's body but remained standing.

This is nothing compared to the hits he took before.

"Dante!" Louise cried, watching her get hit. Wardes bit his lip, turned to the masked man, and waved his staff. It was the air hammer. The air around him solidified into invisible blocks, striking the masked man. He fell off the platform and towards the ground.

Louise struggled out of Wardes' grip and ran to Dante, who just stared at Wardes in clear suspicion. Luckily, neither Wardes nor Louise noticed.

"Derf what the heck just hit me?"

Derflinger spoke in concern, "That was 'Lightning Cloud'. Very strong wind magic. That guy looks like an expert to me."

"Is that so."

Wardes looked to Dante's condition. "But he was lucky to survive. This spell usually kills. Hmm... looks like your sword neutralized some of the current, but I'm not sure why. Isn't the sword made of metal?"

Dante shrugged.

"No idea. I forgot." Derflinger replied.

"An intelligent sword, huh. Rare stuff."

Dante remained silent as he sheathed Derflinger to his back.

"Let's go. I-it doesn't matter now." Louise urged the two.

Behind the last flight of stairs was a branch. On that branch, a ship... just docked there. It was shaped more like a yacht, perhaps to let it fly. There were wings on the sides. From the ship dangled who-knows-how-many ropes, all tied onto the branches. The branch they were standing on extended all the way to the ship's deck.

They stepped on board, and a sailor sleeping on the deck climbed up. "Hey you! What are you doing?"

"Where's the captain?"

"He's sleeping. Come back in the morning." The man replied frostily and drunkenly, and drank from his rum bottle.

Wardes did not answer, and pulled his staff out. "You want a noble to repeat what he just said? I said get the captain!"

"A n-noble!" The sailor stood up immediately and ran for the captain's quarters.

After a while, he brought back a sleepy, fifty-something old man with a hat on. He seemed to be the captain. "What do you want?" He looked at Wardes suspiciously.

"Leader of Her Majesty's Mage Guard, Captain Wardes."

The captain's eyes bulged, and he switched to more formal words after learning his identity as a noble of high caliber. "Oh, uh... then, what services may this ship perform for you..."

"Take us to Albion. Depart now."

"This is Madness!"

'Madness? This is Spardaaa!' Dante silently laughed at his inner joke at his father's expense.

"This is upon Her Majesty's orders. Are you going against the Royal Court?"

"I don't know what you're going to Albion for, but we can't depart until morning!"

"Why?"

"Albion's the closest to Tristainia in the morning! We don't have enough wind stones to get there from here right now."

"Wind stones?" asked the devil hunter.

The captain gave him a 'you-don't-know-what-a-wind-stone-is? look and answered, "Stones that store wind magic. This ship can't fly without them." He then turned to Wardes. "Your Excellency, this ship only has enough wind stones in store to travel the shortest distance to Albion. If we have more, we could have gone earlier. But for now, we cannot depart. We'll drop out of the sky while halfway there."

"I'll make up for however much you lack in wind stones. I'm a square wind mage."

The captain and his sailors looked at each other. The captain then turned to Wardes and nodded. "Then that's fine. You will have to pay, though."

"What's the cargo?"

"Sulfur. Right now, it's worth its weight in gold. The nobles have increased the price in desperation for security. To have that, gunpowder and fire elements are a must."

"Sell all of that to me at that price."

The captain nodded, perhaps with a devious smile. With the deal done, the captain made one order after another. "Leave port! Untie anchors! Set sail!"

The sailors followed orders, all the while complaining under their breath, expertly removing the ropes from the branches, climbing to the securing ropes on both sides, and released the sails.

Without the ties, the ship suddenly sank, and then floated again with the power of the wind stones.

"When can we reach Albion?" Wardes asked.

"We'll arrive at Scarborough Port tomorrow at noon." The captain replied.

Dante looked at the ground from the port side. The "harbor" could be seen between the huge tree's branches. La Rochelle's lights soon faded into darkness. They seemed to be traveling rather fast.

Louise approached her summoned being, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" She worriedly looked at him.

"It's nothing." He pushed her hand away. Louise's face reddened.

"What? And I was worried about you!" Louise went mad, seeing as Dante wouldn't even look at her. "And I got all worried about you... what's with that attitude?" She thought.

Dante is currently trying to piece the facts about what occurred. But remained silent at what he found out. But she has to know the truth, but first Dante needs strong evidence.

Wardes approached them. "From what I heard from the captain, the Albion Royal Army near Newcastle was completely surrounded and is fighting an uphill battle."

Louise, clearly scared, asked, "What about Prince Wales?"

Wardes shook his head. "I'm not sure. He seems to be alive..."

"Wait... isn't the harbor completely taken over by the rebels?"

"Yeah."

"Then how can we contact the Royal Family?"

"We'll just have to fight our way out. It takes only a day on horseback from Scarborough to Newcastle."

"Fighting out of the rebels?"

"Right. That's the only choice we have. They can't really openly attack the Tristainian nobility, I think. We'll have to find a chance to break out of their circle and run straight for Newcastle. All we have to think about then is riding in the dark."

Louise anxiously nodded, and asked, "Speaking of which, Wardes, where's your griffin?"

Wardes smiled. He leaned out portside, and whistled. From right under the ship came the sound of the griffin's wings. It landed onto the deck, scaring some of the sailors.

"Can't we just get to Albion on the griffin instead of the ship?" asked Dante with voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It's not a dragon. It can't fly that far." Louise answered, not catching the point.

Dante sat near the mast and closed his eyes.

'Looks like we'll be in danger again soon. Oh well... I'll just go to sleep.' he thought. With the talk between Louise and Wardes like a lullaby, he fell asleep.

Dante woke up to the sailors' noises and blinding light, and a bright, blue sky in front of him. Looking down the ship, he could see floating clouds. The ship sailed right above them.

"Albion in sight!" the lookout bellowed.

Dante yawned, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and looked down again. All there was were clouds. Ground was nowhere to be seen.

Louise, who seemed to have been sleeping beside him, stood up.

"I can't see ground anywhere." Dante commented.

"There?" She pointed up towards the sky.

"Huh?" He followed where she pointed.

A huge... well, nothing but huge sight greeted his eyes.

From between the clouds he could see dark land. It continued to expand under them. Mountains carved the landscape, and rivers flowed down them.

From between the clouds he could see dark land.

"That doesn't surprise you or anything?" Louise asked him.

"Not really." Dante yawned. He had seen types of place like this before,

"So, what is this place called again?"

"Albion, the floating island. It floats in the air, just like that, usually over oceans. However, it passes by over the Halkeginian continent a few times every month. It's about the size of Tristainia, and it's nicknamed 'The White Country'."

"Why 'The White Country'?"

Louise pointed towards the island. "The water from the rivers flow off the island into the air, and while doing so become white fog, covering the bottom part of the island. The fog turn into clouds, which give Halkeginia its rainfall," Louise explained.

The lookout yelled again, "Ship approaching starboard side!"

Dante looked towards that direction. A ship was, as he said, approaching, and it was many measures larger than the one they're on. Cannons jutted out of holes on its portside.

"Oooh, Pirates... they even have cannons." Dante spoke his thoughts.

Louise frowned.

Shit seems about to hit the fan, so to speak.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Author's note:

The heck, I wrote another one again…

Please review?


	12. Mission 12 : Wedding Crasher

Mission 12 : Wedding Crasher

Reposted : )

Port City La Rochelle

／人◕ .◕人＼

Fantasy pic : Siesta wearing a white short skirted Japanese Miko (Priestess) costume with a Dragunov sniper rifle strapped on her back. She sits in a seiza(kneeling) position as she looks innocently up toward the camera, a large amount of cleavage can be seen. .

／人◕ .◕人＼

"Not good. A rebel... or is that a noble vessel?" Behind deck, Wardes and the captain looked at where the lookout was pointing.

Black paint signaled that the ship was made for war. Twenty or so cannons aimed at them.

"Albionian nobility? Tell us if they ship cargo like we do."

The lookout hoisted the signal flags as the captain told. The black ship did not respond.

The co-captain entered running, his face pale, and reported to the captain, "That ship doesn't have any nationality flags!"

"Then... are they pirates?"

"Can't be wrong! I heard they got really active after the rebellion began..."

"Run! Full speed!" The captain wanted to run from them as quickly as possible, but they were too late. The black ship began to sail parallel to them, and fired a shot directly ahead of them.

BANG! The cannonball disappeared into the clouds. The black ship's mast then hoisted a four-color signal.

"They're ordering us to stop, captain."

The captain winced in his decision. It's not like his ship was completely unarmed, but all they had were three movable cannons on deck, which were no more useful than decorations when up against a full broadside of over twenty pointed at them. The captain looked at Wardes for help.

"All my magic's used on the ship. We can only do what they say." Wardes answered calmly.

The captain mouthed, "There goes my fortune," and gave the order.

"Wrap sails. Stop the ship."

Louise, seeing the black ship fire a shot, closing in on them, and their ship stopping, held close to the devil hunter, who only casually watched the black ship.

"We are pirates! Do not resist!" a man onboard the black ship yelled with a horn.

"Pirates?" Louise was shocked.

"Pirates huh? This I got to see." Dante comments,

On the black ship's port, men lined up with bows and rifles. They aimed and shot hooked lines, grabbing onto their ship's starboard. More strong men, about ten of them wielding axes and curved sabers, slid over the ropes and onto the ship.

Dante sighed, "Why do I feel like not fighting right now?" , It felt a little too strange a situation. Dante decides to just stand back and observe for a while.

Wardes, walked up right next to him and said,

"It's alright not to, they're not just armed barbarians, Dante. They have a lot of cannons pointed at us. If you want to live on the battlefield, you've got to accurately measure their strength and yours. They might even have mages on their side."

'I have been through worse,' Dante reflects, not revealing his thoughts on the matter.

Wardes' griffin, which was sitting on front of the deck, was also frightened of the pirates and growled. Its head was then covered with blue-white smoke, and it fell onto the deck, fast asleep.

"A sleeping spell... so they do have mages."

At an order, the pirates landed on their ship. One of them was dressed quite exquisitely. He wore a shirt that looked like it used to be white, but was dirtied black from sweat and lubricant. One could see his strong and well-tanned chest muscles in the shirt's openings. A patch covered his left eye. This man seemed to be the pirates' leader.

'Wow, Piratey.' Dante can't help but grin at the Pirate Captain's apparel that is obviously screaming "I'M A PIRATE DAMMIT!"

"Where's the captain?" He commanded in a rough tone, looking around him.

"Me." The captain, shaking but still trying to keep composure, raised his hand.

The leader walked to him in large steps, took out his saber and rapped it at the captain's face. "What's the ship's name and what does it carry?"

"Tristainia's Marie Galante. The cargo is sulfur."

A gasp came from the pirates. The leader sniggered, picking up the captain's hat and putting it on his head.

"I'm buying everything on this ship then... the price being your lives!"

'Wow, some line.' Dante thought,

The captain shook in shame. Then, the leader noticed Louise and Wardes standing on deck.

"Oho, we have noble guests!" The leader approached Louise and raised her chin with his hand. "We have a beauty here. Would you like to be our dishwasher?"

The men made rough, low laughs. Louise slapped his hand, and glared at him like she was about to explode into flames. "Get off me, you low-life!"

"Oh, she called us low-lives! I'm so scared now!" The men laughed loudly.

Dante wanted to take out his sword, but Wardes stopped him, whispering, "Hey, familiar. You look like you just can't quiet down."

Seriously, Dante could easily thrash these guys.

"What's the use in raising a racket now? Their cannons and arrows would just turn Louise, you, and all of us into swiss cheese."

'That'll only be you guys bub.' Dante replies inwardly, while remaining stoic.

"Don't you care about Louise's safety one bit?"

"Seriously man, quit with the act. You do what you do and I do mine." Dante snapped at Wardes, who was a bit surprised, but just shrugged and walked off.

"That's telling him boss," Derflinger comments. "So, what's the plan?"

"We wait."

"Alright, boys, take them all away. We can get a hell lot of ransom for this!"

／人◕ .◕人＼

Dante let himself caught and imprisoned by the pirates. It seemed like the Marie Galante's crew had helped to take over the ship.

Since Dante's sword and Wardes and Louise's wands had been taken, their hands and feet were not restrained. Without their wands, mages, are just like the weaponless Dante, were harmless, Dante managed to quickly store his guns away. Though the same could not be said about Louise.

In the background, one could see wine barrels, cereal sacks and gunpowder casks disorderly thrown around. Heavy cannonballs were piled up in the corner of the room.

Wardes explored such cargo with a great interest.

Dante sat down in the corner of the hold, dozing off.

Louise looked at Dante with an annoyed expression after seeing him in such a state.

"What the hell is he doing, he should be thinking of escaping now."

"You do realize that were, you know thousands of "mails" in the air. Just where do you think we can run to?" Dante said snappishly.

"Oh right." Louise realized it as well.

"But are you alright? You have been hit by that lightning after all."

"Don't sweat it. I had worse."

But Louise won't hear nothing of it. Besides, this is the first time Louise ever saw Dante took a more dangerous hit. She panicked.

"Somebody! Somebody come!"

'That overacting idiot,' Dante swore under his breath.

The guard stood up.

"Eh?"

"Water! Is there a mage? We need a water mage! There is an injured person! He needs to be healed!"

"There is no such person."

"Lies! It is so!"

Wardes who was taken aback, watched Louise dumbfounded. Dante gripped Louise's shoulder.

"Be obedient. You are the prisoner here."

"No! I won't, you are injured!"

"Stop saying that!" Dante shouted. Louise cringed because of his threatening attitude, and her pupils started getting moist. However, she gulped down her saliva and tried to fight back the incoming tears.

"Dammit, don't cry."

"I am not crying. There is no master who would cry in front of her magical partner!"

"I see."

"I would never cry in front of you."

Louise walked towards the other wall and sat down facing away from Dante, her body shivering. Dante headed towards Wardes and tapped his shoulder.

"Please comfort her"

"Why?"

"Aren't you Louise's fiancé?"

Wardes nodded and turned towards Louise, and hugged her shoulders from behind, comforting her. Dante laid on the ground, averting his eyes from Wardes and Louise. Time to get some needed shut eye.

The door opens as a fat man with a plate of soup entered.

"Hey Pa, is it dinnertime already?" Dante quips

"Only after you answered a few questions."

Louise, whose eyes looked puffy, stood up.

"Ask."

"What business do you have in Albion?"

"Traveling." Louise said with a decisive voice, putting her hand on the waist.

"Tristain's noble, why would you travel to Albion? Why would you be sightseeing in such place?"

"I do not have to tell you such things."

"Still pretending to be tough, despite being scared and crying?"

Louise turned her face away as the pirate started laughing. She grabbed a plate with soup and water to throw at him, but...

Dante took it from her.

"Hey!"

"I cannot eat a soup made by such people!"

Louise turned her face away again.

"It's not healthy to stay hungry."

When Wardes said so, Louise took the plate of soup with a pouting face.

Two people excluding Dante ate the same soup from one plate, though in normal circumstances that would never happen.

Wardes leaned onto the wall with a tired expression on his face.

Louise again tries to see how her guardian being is holding up.

"It's alright."

"It's not alright!" Louise stared firmly at Dante with her puffy eyes. "Because, you are my guardian being, you have to listen what I tell you!"

"Since when did I listen to you when you talk like that?"

Dante sighed. Louise, who now managed to see his arm, looked up at him.

"What is it?"

"How is this possible, I could have sworn that your arm was badly burned by that spell." Louise whispered.

"Oh that, I never mentioned this before, but I heal fast." Dante softly smiled.

That lessened the pinkette's worries.

"You have more important duties to care about."

"It is so, but so is your well being! Clear?"

"Nice to be cared for." Dante smirked,

At that time, the door opened again. This time it was a thin pirate standing before them. The pirate looked at the three with piercing eyes and asked.

"Good evening, are you the aristocrats going to Albion?"

Louise did not answer.

"Oi oi, judging from your silence it's truth. Although we do not look like that we respect nobles, thanks to the aristocrats our business goes well."

"But, isn't this a warship of rebels?"

"No no, though we are employed, we are involved in the fifty-fifty relationship with both sides. We are related to both factions. So how is it? Are you nobles? If it is true, then you will be let go free in the closest port."

Dante felt relieved. Since Louise was an aristocrat everything could be settled peacefully then. Also, they would be taken to the closest port.

Louise, however, did not nod her head in agreement and kept on glaring at the pirate's forehead instead.

"How dare you have anything to do with those dirty rebels? Do not disregard Albion nobles. I myself am one of the noble families. Albion is still a kingdom, as the royal family is still a legitimate government in Albion. Because I am an aristocrat who comes here on behalf of Tristain, I am, in other words, an ambassador. Therefore, I demand an ambassador's treatment from you."

Dante muttered. "Are you an idiot?"

"Who are you calling an idiot? The idiot is you! Trying to act cool while doing nothing!" Louise angrily turned to Dante and shouted.

" You should choose the time and place to act and for your straightforwardness better!"

The pirate laughed after seeing such scene.

"Honestly, you should stop doing that!"

"You are wrong, I can't let you be hurt so carelessly." Louise asserted.

"Is that so?" Dante said in a surprised voice.

"It's because you are my ... t-that's why..."

"I'll go to report to the Boss then."

The pirate left laughing.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Louise stood up straight. Though the thought of marrying Wardes made her feel funny at the start, it wasn't so strong anymore.

"...In any case, you lied to them."

"Don't talk nonsense. Are you seriously thinking that lying to such people is a bad thing?"

Dante sighed tiredly. Wardes came near Louise and tapped her shoulder.

"Don't say such things Louise, you are still my bride."

'Damn this guy.' Dante thought

The door opened again, it was the same thin pirate.

"The boss calls."

／人◕ .◕人＼

The aisle passed up the narrow stairs and took the three to a splendid room built on the upper part of the deck.

The Boss... apparently, the chief of the pirates.

As the door opened, one could see a gorgeous dinner table and a pirate sitting at its end, playing with a cane that had big crystal attached on top of it. Seemingly, he was a mage himself. The Boss' room was very different from what one would expect from a pirate.

He looked intensively at Louise who entered the room. The thin pirate who had brought her there poked her slightly from behind. "Hey, you, you are standing in front of the Boss, so greet him properly." However, Louise just stood there glaring at the Boss as he smiled at her.

"Ah, I like a strong willed woman, you are not a child at all. "

"I demand the treatment of an ambassador."

'Ambassador of what? Prisoners?' Dante thought,

Louise, not paying attention to the Boss' words, repeated her demand.

"And what would be that message you are trying to give?"

Said the Boss as he ignored Louise's words.

"And did you say royal?"

"Yes, I did."

"Are you going to the Royal Palace? They will be gone tomorrow."

"I won't tell you."

But the Boss spoke to Louise in a joyful voice.

"Are you willing to betray the nobles? Otherwise, even if you are a mage I might not guarantee your safety even for considerable fee."

"I'd rather die."

DAnte poked Louise, and at that moment he noticed her body trembling. She was scared. But even if she was scared, she kept on looking straight into the eyes of the Boss.

She stands against a scary opponent but is able to withstand it because she has something important in her mind.

This Louise looked really amazing.

"I'll ask you again. Are you willing to betray the nobles?"

Louise looked straight ahead. She crossed her arms, and put out her chest. However, Dante interrupted her before she could open her mouth.

"She told her answer already."

"And who are you?"

The Boss looked at Dante with a piercing glare. The eyes that seemed to see the deepest secrets. But Dante looked straight at the Boss, just like Louise did.

"A familiar of sorts." Dante shrugged

"Familiar?"

"Seems so."

The Boss started laughing. He laughed loudly.

"I knew that Tristainan nobles were weird but not so helplessly. Oh my, my stomach hurts." Said the Boss as he stood up laughing. the devil hunter and the others were puzzled by the sudden change of atmosphere and looked at each other.

"Oh, I am sorry. As a noble I should properly introduce myself as well."

The pirate who was laughing loudly suddenly stood up straight.

He removed his black curly hair from his head. It seemed to be a wig. He also took of the black eyepatch, and also removed his fake beard. Before them now was standing a young person with blond hair.

'Yeah, thought the getup is weird,' Dante reflected.

"I am a general of the Albion Royal Air Force. Also the commander of our country fleet. Though to tell the truth this warship named "Eagle" is the only ship in our fleet. A powerless fleet. Oh dear, even people from the street could easily beat it."

The young person bowed while introducing himself.

"I am the prince of the Albion's Kingdom, Wales Tudor."

Louise's mouth opened wide from the surprising appearance of the young prince of Albion. Wardes watched the prince with great interest.

Wales smiled with a charming smile and moved a chair for Louise to sit.

"Welcome to Albion, Ambassador. Now, lets talk about your message."

However, Louise was still speechless. She just stood there dumbfounded, unable to move.

"Why do I dress up as a pirate? To hide myself? No, the rich rebels sent a lot of support to rebellion, and it is a basic war tactic to cut enemy's supply line. Even if I have to do that in such an undignified way as to dress myself up as a dirty pirate."

Wales said laughingly.

"No, it was really impolite to treat an ambassador like that. But you have to admit you don't look much like a royal messenger yourself. And I never thought about support from other country's nobles. Yet I still should apologize."

Even after Wales' words, Louise's mouth still kept opening and closing without uttering a single sound. She hadn't been mentally prepared to meet the prince so suddenly.

"We brought a secret letter from Her Highness Princess Henrietta." Wardes said while gracefully bowing.

"Ohh, from Her Highness. And you are?"

"Captain of Tristain's Griffin Knights, Viscount Wardes."

After that, Wardes introduced Louise to Wales.

"And this is the ambassador sent by Her Highness from the Vallière family and her familiar, Your Highness."

"Indeed! Such a splendid noble. And I only have my ten bodyguards to greet you, such a miserable greeting. Then, do you still have the secret letter?"

Louise panicking took out Henrietta's letter from her clothes. However, she stopped before giving it to Wales. After a few moments of hesitation she opened her mouth.

"B-but..."

"What?"

"Excuse me, but are you really a prince?" Wales laughed.

"Oh dear, you won't believe me even if I showed you my true face. I am Wales. And I am really a prince. I will show evidence then."

Wales said after seeing the water ruby ring shining on Louise's finger.

Louise's hand was taken and the ring that shone on a finger was removed. The prince brought it close to his ruby ring. The two rings reacted to each other, shining with a bright light.

"This ring belongs to the Albion royal family, the ruby of the Wind, while that one belongs to Henrietta from Tristain royal family and is the ruby of the Water. Right?"

Louise nodded.

"Water and the wind make the rainbow. Rainbow that forms between royal families."

"True, I am sorry for my impoliteness."

Louise handed Wales the letter and bowed.

After looking at the letter lovingly, Wales kissed the signature. Then, the seal was carefully removed, the paper inside was taken out, and Wales began to read.

For some time he kept on reading it with serious expression.

"Is the princess marrying? That beautiful Henrietta. My beloved... cousin."

'He's the Princess' cousin? Ew, gross.' Dante couldn't help but think.

Wardes bowed silently, with an affirmative expression. Wales dropped the glance to the letter again and smiled when the last line was read.

"Understood. The princess is informing me with this that she wants you to return that letter. And more importantly, the princess also hopes that I return a letter from her. Seems like it."

Louise's face beamed with pleasure.

"However, it's not in my hands right now. It's in the castle in Newcastle. I didn't want to bring the princess' letter to this pirate ship." Wales said laughingly.

"So, even though it's troublesome, please come with me to Newcastle."

／人◕ .◕人＼

The warship Eagle took the group to the ragged coastline of Albion. They had been traveling for three hours and could already see the cape, a big castle standing on its very edge.

Wales explained to Dante, who was standing on the front deck, that it was the fortress of Newcastle. However, the Eagle did not head straight to the city, but instead sailed down the coast.

"Why are we going downwards?"

Wales pointed at the sky behind the castle where a huge ship was floating. However, it could not see their ship which was hiding on the other side of the cloud.

"Warship of rebels."

It could be described only as a huge ship - it was twice as long as the Eagle with an incredible number of sails, and it seemed like it was aiming for Newcastle port. With no warning it opened fire aiming at the castle. The first cannonball crashed into the wall and a small fire could be seen. The shockwave from impact could be felt on the deck of the Eagle.

"This ship named "Royal Sovereign" once belonged to the fleet of our country. Yet, when rebels took control over it, they changed the name to "Lexington". It was named in honor of the battlefield where those guys snatched the first victory from us." Wales said with a smile.

"This warship keeps a constant blockade of Newcastle from the sky. It shoots at the castle from time to time, not in order to do some damage, but just to annoy us."

Dante looked through the cloud at the warship. There were a lot of cannons on each side, and a dragon was painted on the surface of the ship.

"It has 108 cannons and really looks like a firebreathing dragon at times. The whole rebellion started from this ship. We can't match it, so it's better to sail through this cloud and remain unseen. We can reach Newcastle from the other side, as there is a secret port that only we know."

／人◕ .◕人＼

It suddenly became pitch-dark when ship went under the continent, as the landmass blocked the sunlight. In addition, they were still surrounded by clouds. They couldn't see a thing. Wales explained that rebels never went under the continent because traveling in such a way was dangerous. Cold, damp and chilly air hit the devil hunter's cheeks.

"For Navigators of the royal air force it's easy to navigate by relying on topographical maps, using magic of light and measurements."

Wales laughed, the noble that does not know the sky is not an intelligent person.

They sailed for a while and eventually reached a section which opened into black hole overhead. Illuminated by the magic light from the mast, it was really spectacular, they could see a hole 300 mails in diameter.

"Stop here for now."

"Aye Aye sir, stop here!" Wales' order was given to the still very energetic and lively crew. The sails were taken off and the Eagle started to drift right under the hole.

"Slowly increase speed."

"Aye Aye sir, slowly increase the speed!"

'Sounds so Star Trek' Dante thought, upon hearing the exchange.

The Eagle rose slowly toward the hole. Following just behind was the Marie Galante that navigators of the Eagle had boarded.

Wardes nodded, "You are definitely not sky pirates, Your Highness."

"We are precisely sky pirates, Viscount."

／人◕ .◕人＼

Light could be seen inside the hole and that's where the Eagle headed to.

The warship had arrived at a secret port of Newcastle. Inside the huge limestone cave was covered with white moss. Many people were waiting on the quay. Ropes were thrown to the sailors to tie down the Eagle and finally the wooden gangway was attached.

Wales hurried Louise and the others to go down the gangway. A tall and aged mage approached them.

"Ha ha, wonderful military results, right, Your Highness?"

The old mage seemed to appear out of nowhere before the Eagle.

"Rejoice, Paris. Sulfur, it is sulfur!"

When Wales shouted so, around him gathered cheering soldiers.

"Ooh! Sulfur! This is for the honor of our guardianship!" The old mage began to cry as he was aging.

"I served for sixty years under the previous king... There won't be such happy days again, Your Highness. After the revolt happened it all turned into sorrow... Even with sulfur we won't make it..."

Wales laughed with a smile.

"Even if we'll be defeated, we'll show the revolters the royal family's courage and honor."

"A glorious death. My old bones are trembling with excitement. It was reported that the rebels are going to attack the castle tomorrow. It's really all or nothing now, Your Highness."

"With our last breath we'll put their soldiers to shame!"

Wales and the others were laughing at ease from the bottoms of their hearts. Louise became worried after hearing the word defeat. In other words, they will die. Aren't these people scared of death?

"And who are these people?" The old mage named Paris asked Wales after seeing Louise.

"This is an ambassador from Tristain. She came because of an important business related to the kingdom."

Paris was surprised for a moment, what would the ambassador from another kingdom be searching for in those ruins? But soon a smile returned to his face.

"So you are an ambassador. Paris Chamberlain at your service, madam. It's nice that you came all the way to Albion. Though it might not be much, we will have a small feast tonight. By all means - please come."

／人◕ .◕人＼

Louise and the others followed Wales to his room. The prince's room was suited behind the kitchen room and it was rather ordinary looking.

A wooden bed, table and a pair of chairs, as well as a painting on the wall that illustrated a battle scene.

The prince sat on the chair and opened a drawer of the desk, inside of which was a little jewelry box. The prince took the necklace off his neck.

A small key was put into the lock of the little box and Wales opened it. Henrietta's portrait was lying in there.

Louise received the letter while bowing deeply.

Wales, who had noticed Louise looking at the box, spoke embarrassedly.

"Strongbox."

There was one letter inside. It seemed to be from the princess too. Wales took it out with love and read it. That letter looked older than it should from being constantly re-read.

After reading it Wales gently folded it and put it into an envelope, then he handed it to Louise.

"This is the letter I got from the princess. I am returning it as well."

"Thank you."

Louise received the letter while bowing deeply.

"The Eagle will take you back to Tristain tomorrow, as we won't be using it in the battle."

Louise opened her mouth decisively after looking for some time at the letter.

"But, Your Highness... What did you have in mind when you mentioned a glorious defeat?"

Louse asked with hesitation. Wales answered it very easily.

"It is so. My army has 300 men while the enemy force has 50000. There is no chance of victory. So let us at least die in glory."

'Sounds so similar to 300 Spartans.' Dante reflects,

Louise looked down.

"Your Highness, do you also mean yourself when you talk about dying in battle?"

"Of course. I will die as well."

Dante, who had been looking at the conversation from the side, sighed. 'Yup, It's so similar that it sounds ridiculous.'

The prince being worried so little by death tomorrow made it all so confusing. But then again, it reminded him of his earlier days.

But to Dante's view, this seemed that it was not reality but an event from a play.

Louise's shoulders dropped when she bowed deeply to Wales. She had more things to say though.

"Your Highness... Forgive my impoliteness, but there are a few more things I have to say."

"What do you want to say?"

"What is the content of the letter?"

"Louise."

Dante protested. Indeed, the content of the letter was a personal thing after all. But Louise, after asking Wales, looked up with determination.

"When Her Majesty gave me this task she looked like she was worrying about her lover. And in the box there was a portrait of the Princess, and seeing the gloomy face after you kissed and read the letter... Are you and the Princess..."

Dante thought, 'You only figured it out just now?'

Wales smiled. He guessed what Louise wanted to say.

"Do you want to say that cousin Henrietta and I have a love relationship?"

Louise nodded.

"It seems so. Forgive a surprising impoliteness. If so, the content of this letter is..."

After putting his hand to his forehead and making a gesture, as if worried for a moment about what he should and shouldn't say, Wales spoke.

"A love letter. Just like you guessed. Foolishly, if this love letter were to be passed to the imperial household of Germania as Henrietta informed by letter, it might become a great threat. In the letter she is swearing eternal love for me in the name of Founder Brimir. It is like an oath when marrying, love sworn in the name of the founder. If this letter is brought to light, she will be accused of committing the crime of bigamy. The emperor of Germania is sure to break off the engagement with the princess who violated the rules. Then, there would be no alliance. Tristain might be politically ignored by other countries' noble families."

"So Her Majesty and Your Highness were in love with each other?"

"It's an old story."

'Yeah, it's a pretty much an overused story.' Dante reflects.

Louise spoke to Wales in a feverish tone. "Your Highness, return! Return to Tristain!"

Wardes abruptly put his hand on her shoulder. However, this did not stop Louise.

"I beg you! Please, come to Tristain with us!"

"It cannot be done." Wales said with a laugh.

"Your Highness, I disagree. Her highness would think so as well! Didn't it say so in the letter? I have known the Princess since our childhood, I know very well how she thinks. She does not desert the people she loves! Your Highness, you didn't say it, but I am sure the Princess told you to run away as well!"

Wales shook his head. "There is not such line written."

'Surely, he lies.' Dante could see it in the prince's eyes.

"Your Highness!" Louise kept on pressing Wales.

"I am from a royal family. I am not lying. There is no telling by the princess for me to run away in the letter, I swear it by my honor."

Wales spoke as if he was in pain. It seemed like Louise's words hit him.

"Henrietta is a princess. She has to give priority to the country rather than me."

Louise understood what he meant with that. Even if Wales liked Henrietta, it would never be supported by other nobles in his situation.

Wales tapped Louise's shoulder.

"You are an honest girl, Vallière. You have honest, clear and kind eyes."

Louise looked down lonesome.

"But let me give you some advice. It's not too good for an ambassador to be honest like that."

Wales smiled with an attractive smile.

"However, you are a perfect ambassador to a ruined country like ours, as the government that will be destroyed tomorrow is more honest than anyone, since it doesn't have anything to defend besides its honor."

After that he pulled something out of his pocket. From the shape and running arrow it seemed to be a clock.

"Ahhaha, it is time for our little party. Since you are last guests of our kingdom, I would like you to attend it as well."

The guardian being and master went out of the room. Wardes stayed behind and bowed to Wales.

"Oh do you have some more business, Viscount?"

"There is one favor I would like to ask, Milord."

"Ask."

Wardes whispered into the ear of Wales, who smiled.

"Ah such a lovely request, it will be my pleasure."

／人◕ .◕人＼

The party was held in the castle's hall. The king of Albion, James I, sat on the throne, and watched the nobles and vassals who had gathered through narrowed eyes.

Though the following day everyone would die, it was still quite a feast and the table was filled with various treats.

Dante and the others were watching this colorful party while standing in the corner of the hall.

"They put all the troubles of tomorrow behind and are trying to enjoy the present."

Wardes nodded in response to Dante's words.

"Yes, they behave joyfully."

When Prince Wales showed up, there was some enthusiastic sighs between the ladies. It seemed like he was popular not only as a prince but as a handsome man as well. When he approached the throne, people started whispering.

James I tried to stand up straight and greet him, but because of his old age he staggered and almost fell down.

Some laughter could be heard from the hall.

"Your Majesty! Its too early to fall!"

"Indeed! Save that for tomorrow!"

James I wasn't insulted by such comments, and smiled.

"Don't worry, its just my legs were numb from sitting for so long."

Wales came closer and supported the king's body with his. There were a few more chuckles.

"You. I will tell all of you brave and loyal vassals, that tomorrow 'Reconquista' is planning to attack our Newcastle with their full force. You followed and fought bravely for this incapable old king, however tomorrow won't be a battle. It is likely to be a one-sided slaughter. Let's endure it and show our bravery for one last time."

The king coughed loudly, after that he continued talking.

"But it might be asking too much for all you to die. Thus tomorrow morning the warship Eagle will take all women and children and the ones who chose to leave to a safer place further from this forsaken continent."

However, no one answered. One noble loudly informed the king.

"You Majesty! We are waiting for the order! Whole Army Forward! Whole Army Forward! Whole Army Forward! Since our hearing is so bad tonight I doubt we will be able to hear any other orders!"

All the people nodded.

"Yeah! What would others say if we were to run away?"

"It's too late to retreat, Your Majesty"

"It's alright! We will continue to serve the king like we did years before! Tonight is a good night! The founder has blessed us with a wonderful moon and warm night! Let's enjoy drinking and dancing for tonight!"

With this everyone returned to the feast. The three guests from Tristain attracted a lot of attention. The nobles didn't seem to be sad or worried, they playfully kept on joking and offering wine or food to the guests.

"Ambassador! Try this wine! Tell us which country's wine is better!"

"Here! Try this! It's Albion's special - chicken with honey, will make you healthy and strong for sure!"

Albion kept on having fun! Even in the end.

'This is starting to really sound like the 300's last supper.'

Dante became melancholic. The people who acted joyfully at the face of death looked more sad than brave.

Dante wondered if this is what the people thought before Sparda actually decided to side with the humans.

Louise seemed to have felt it more. She couldn't endure the atmosphere, shook her head and ran out of the hall.

For a moment Dante wanted to follow her, but urged Wardes to go instead.

Wardes nodded and went after her.

Wales saw Dante just loitering around, came to him from the center of the hall.

"This man is Miss Vallière's familiar. However, it is very unusual for a person to be a familiar. Tristain is really an unusual country."

Wales laughed while saying so.

"It is unusual in Tristain as well." Said Dante tiredly.

"Feeling down?"

"Not Really. Are you sure about this dying with honor thing?

Anxiously, Wales looked into Dante's face, and nods gravely.

Dante stood up and asked Wales. "Sorry for impoliteness... But aren't you scared?"

"Scared?" Wales looked blankly at the devil hunter.

"Aren't you scared to die?"

Wales laughed after hearing Dante's words.

"You are worried about us! Us! What a nice guy you are!"

"Nope not really. But no matter what any normal person has fears of death one way or another, I'm just asking."

Wales gave a bitter smile.

"Truth be told, I am scared. There is no person who would not be scared to die. It doesn't matter if you are a noble or commoner."

Unfortunately Dante can't relate to the scared to die thing. Since, he's basically immortal.

"Then why?" he askes anyway.

"It is because I have something to defend. Something that makes me to forget the coldness of the grave."

'Nice line there.' The devil hunter thought, keeping a straight face.

"What do you defend? Honor? Fame? Those are a foolish things to die for." Dante said with louder voice.

Wales answered with distant eyes.

"The aristocrat faction 'Reconquista' is our enemy that tries to unite Halkeginia. It hangs to the 'Holy Land' ideal. It's good that people have such ideals, but it shouldn't be brought about with force and blood. All countries would be ruined."

"However, is there no chance of victory any more? What's the point of dying here? Maybe you can find other means to defeat them later..."

"No, we should at least show off a glimpse of courage and honor to other nobles even if is not possible to win, we can show that Halkeginia's royal families are not a weak enemy. Even though they do not seem like they will throw away the ambitions of 'Union' and 'Recovery of the Holy Land' anytime soon."

"Why?" Dante asked just to get to keep the conversation going.

Dante who grew up in the most absolutely fucked up way could understand why one would show one's courage in such way.

Wales declared decisively.

"Why? Easily, it is our obligation. The obligation of those born in the royal family. The obligation imposed on the royal family to defend the kingdom to the very end."

Dante understand the point. However, because Wales has a person whom he loves, and who loves Wales as well, isn't surviving for that person also an obligation? He thought in such a way.

"The princess of Tristain loves you. Did you forgot her letter?"

After the hunter's words, Wales smiled recalling it.

"Because of love, sometimes it is necessary to pretend not to know. Because of love, sometimes it is necessary to let go. It would only give others an excuse to invade Tristain."

"Seriously man..."

Wales's decision won't be changed. Wales gripped the taller Dante's shoulder and looked straight into his eyes.

"Since it is cleared, don't tell this to Henrietta. No need to worry her pretty face with unnecessary worries. She is like a pretty flower. Don't you think so too?"

Dante nodded. She indeed is a beautiful princess. I don't want to see her face sad or worried either.

But, Wales wouldn't change his decision because of that. That's what Wales' eyes said.

"Just tell her that Wales fought bravely and died bravely. That will be enough."

Wales returned to the center of the hall after saying that.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Dante left the feast, but since he felt lost, he asked the waiter where his room was.

After he was told, someone tapped his shoulder from behind. Dante saw Wardes when he turned around.

Oh him again.

"I have to tell you something."

Wardes said in a stony voice.

"And that would be?"

"Louise and I will hold a wedding here tomorrow."

The events he predicted seemed to be speeding up than he expected it to be.

"A-at such time? Why?"

"Because we want to ask the brave Crown Prince Wales to act as go-between of our marriage. The Crown Prince pleasantly agreed. We will hold a ceremony before the decisive battle."

Dante became silent, and nodded.

"Will you come?" Wardes asked.

Dante shook his head.

"Then you can leave with the ship tomorrow. Louise and I will return with a griffon."

"But isn't it too long of a distance?"

Yes, something is not right.

"Only if you would fly fast without resting." Wardes answered. "Well then, I need to go now."

"Alright."

Dante's eyes narrowed.

He needed a plan.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Dante was walking through a pitch-dark passage with a candlestick. The moon was shining through an open window on the way of the passage.

There was a girl who walked alone in the moonlight. She had long blond-pink hair... Tears that looked like pearls were falling down her white cheek. Dante looked quietly admiring her for a while, such a beautiful but sad face. She could almost be like a daughter he never had.

Louise turned around and noticed devil hunter, who was standing there with a candle. Her eyes were wet even though she had wiped them.

Her face became sad once again. When Dante walked up to her, she leaned into his body, as if losing all her strength.

"You are crying, why..."

Louise didn't answer, but pressed her face into Dante's chest.

He embraced her firmly, in assurance

Dante, at first, was puzzled by Louise clinging to him. He wasn't used to these kinds of things.

However, she sobbed like a girl, and it felt like Louise clung to him very dearly. She was hurt and he felt sorry for her. However, what does this mean?

Louise probably clung to me because I was here by chance- like a girl clinging to a stuffed animal.

Still, Dante said nothing and patted Louise's head in an awkward way with his hand. Her head seemed so small that it fit in his palm.

When Dante walked up to her, she leaned into his body, as if losing all her strength.

Louise spoke while crying.

"No... Those people... Why, why did they chose to die? Even though there is the princess... Even if Wales loves her... Why does Crown Prince Wales choose death?"

"He said that it was to defend someone important."

"What is more important in this world than the person you love?"

"I don't understand the prince's way of thinking either."

"I will persuade him! I will persuade him again!"

"Don't."

"Why?"

"Because, you are here to deliver Her Majesty's letter. This is your only mission."

Louise muttered while tears kept on streaming down her cheeks. "...I want to return soon. I want to return back to Tristain. I dislike this country. These foolish people and unreasonable prince that leaves everything."

Though Louise sometimes acted tough, she was still a girl. Louise could not understand Wales' world. But the devil hunter understood her as he somewhat thought the same way as well, honourable death be damned.

Dante just stayed silent for a while as he stared at the window.

"What?"

"Something's up."

Dante turns around and begins walking away.

"Where are you going?"

"Don't worry, it'll be over soon."

Louise, finally recovering, she returns to her room to rest, all the while wondering what her guardian being is up to.

／人◕ .◕人＼

The next morning…

Within Newcastle's port inside the cave, Dante stood observing the people in a queue to board the Eagle, surrounded by rushing people that were not able to leave with Marie Galante.

"Because of love, sometimes it is necessary to let go..." Derflinger muttered silently. He was hanging by a strap on the devil hunter's back. It was unbearable, during days like those, to have no one to talk to.

"Stop saying it…"

"Why?"

"I feel sick when you say it."

"You mean 'Because of love, sometimes it is necessary to let go'…That?"

"Why don't you stop saying that?"

"I understand. I won't say it anymore, if partner asks. Yet, we have to discuss a few things about our future. Have you decided where to go, since we have lots of free time now?" Derflinger asked, pretending not to know.

"I didn't say I'm leaving now haven't I?"

"Then how we will look for the signs of your father?"

"Why would you be looking for it?" Dante said.

The sword turns silent, as it thought of something else to say.

"You could try to become a mercenary."

"Mercenary huh?"

"Yes. With a sword on your shoulder, looking to one battle today, and then wandering to another country and battlefield tomorrow. Poor income, but at least satisfied rage, right?"

"Been there done that," Dante muttered, but then again, the prospects of finding challenges appealed to him.

"And with a bad teammate like you?"

"What, without me as a partner, a guy like you would be left behind instantly."

"Screw you. Your only greatest power is rusting off."

"How rude. But I forgive you, since you are my partner. By the way, partner, I recalled one thing the other day…"

"What?"

"Partner, you are called Windálfr?

"Aah, because that's the name of the legendary familiar. When I first heard it, I have no idea what the hell that meant..."

"Wait. Wait just a moment, partner. I think I remember the name…"

"Really?"

"No, it is an extremely old memory… It was very long ago, I just caught it in a corner of my head…"

Derflinger kept on muttering "hm" ,"aha", and "aah" repeatedly.

"Maybe you are confused since it was a long time ago. Besides, where is the head of a sword anyway?"

Derflinger thought about it for a while.

"The handle, maybe?" He said, making the devil hunter smile.

Dante looked at the limestone cave from the edge of the gunwale. At that moment, Louise was in the middle of her wedding.

People still kept boarding the ship one after another. It was really overcrowded and a mass of people pushed one another around the deck. All the while, Dante just serenely perched on one of the ships masts.

Then the devil hunter rose,

"Time to get to work."

／人◕ .◕人＼

Meanwhile, in a chapel, where the Founder Brimir's portrait hung, Crown Prince Wales was waiting for the bridegroom and the bride to appear. There were no other people around, as everybody was busy preparing for the upcoming battle. Wales also had planned, once the ceremony was over, to prepare for the battle as well. Wales was dressed in the Crown Prince's formal uniform. He wore a bright purple mantle, the symbol of the royal family, and a hat with seven colored wings, the symbol of Albion's royal family.

The door opened, Louise and Wardes had arrived. Louise stood with a dazzled expression on her face so Wales had to urge her to come and stand in front of him.

Louise was puzzled. Everything happened so suddenly. Wardes barged into her room this morning and brought her here, without even waking her up properly. She was puzzled, because desperate feelings were swelling in her mind. She came here without thinking, still half-asleep. Because of the prince who was determined to die and Dante's strange attitude yesterday, she was very confused.

Wardes, after telling Louise that it was "Time to do the wedding now", put on a bridal veil borrowed from Albion's royal family on Louise's head. The veil was nicely made, and the flowers, that were eternally fresh due to magic, made it look indescribably beautiful.

Then, Wardes removed Louise's black mantle and replaced it with a white one, that was also borrowed from Albion's royal family. Only brides were allowed to wear it, as it was a mantle of a virgin.

However, even while being dressed up by Wardes' hands, Louise was still unresponsive. But Wardes understood Louise's mood as a sign of her affirmative will.

Wardes and Louise stood up in front of Wales, who was standing below the image of the Founder Brimir, wearing his official uniform. Wardes, who himself was wearing his usual clothes and a magical mantle, bowed his head.

"Well then, let's start the ceremony."

The Prince's voice reached Louise's ears. However, it sounded like a weak sound of a distant bell. Louise's mind was still lost in the fog of her own thoughts.

"Bridegroom, Viscount Jean-Jacques Francis de Wardes. Do you take this girl as your wife, and swear to respect and love her in the name of the Founder Brimir?"

Wardes nodded solemnly and grasped the cane with his left hand, holding it out in front of his chest.

"I swear."

Wales looked at Louise and smiled encouragingly.

"Bride, the third daughter of the Duke de La Vallière, Louise Françoise le Blanc de La Vallière…"

Wales read the oath in a clear voice.

Just then, Louise noticed that she was in the middle of a wedding ceremony. Her partner – reliable Wardes, for whom she once yearned. A marriage arranged by their fathers. Only now was her childish, absent-minded, distant future starting to turn into reality.

It is not like I hate Wardes. Maybe I even like him. But if it is so, why do I feel such pain? Why do I feel so sad?

Is it because I saw a kingdom turning into ruins? Or is it because I faced a prince who deserted his love and hopes, in order to die?

It's not that. Though those are sad events that hurt, there wouldn't be such a cloud of sadness hanging on my mind just because of that.

It was a deep, melancholic cloud, which was hard to bear.

Louise suddenly remembered the expression on Dante's face when she said "marriage" to him.

Why did I say such a thing to him?

It is because I wanted to be stopped.

By whom?

Because I wanted Dante to stop me.

Why?

Louise started to blush once thinking about the reason. Just like thinking about the reason why the previous night she, though in deep sorrow, so easily jumped into Dante's chest, whom she accidentally met in the corridor. But are those feelings true ones? I don't know. But isn't it worth it to try to find out?

After all, no matter how excited or sad she had been, she never jumped into a man's chest before.

"Bride?"

Wales looked at her direction. Louise looked up panicking.

She had the expression of a person who didn't know what she was doing there at all. Louise was puzzled. What should she do? What should she do at times like this? No one taught her that. Only Louise's familiar, who was leaving the ground at the moment, might know the answer.

"Are you nervous? That's alright. It's your first time, it is normal to be nervous."

Wales smiled, while talking.

"Oh dear, we still have to hold the etiquette. Doing this would have meaning only if we are to follow etiquette. Then, let me repeat. Do you take this man as your husband, and swear to respect and love him in the name of the Founder Brimir…"

Louise realized. She shouldn't hesitate with the answer, waiting for someone to tell her what to do.

She had to make decisions for herself.

Determined Louise took a deep, deep breath.

And, before Wales finished his words, Louise shook her head.

"Bride?"

"Louise?"

Two people suspiciously looked into Louise's face. She looked at Wardes with a sad expression on her face and once again shook her head.

"By all means, Louise. Are you feeling bad?"

"No, that's not it. I am sorry…"

"If today is bad, then another time…"

"That's not it, that's not it. I'm sorry Wardes, I cannot marry you."

Wales looked doubtful at the sudden change of events.

"Bride, this is not the marriage you want?"

"Yes, that's how it is. I want to apologize to both of you, for my rudeness. It was a painful decision to make, but I do not want to marry."

An angry red blush quickly spread on Wardes face. Wales turned to him and said in an embarrassed, doubtful and regretful voice.

"Viscount, I am terribly sorry, but the bride doesn't want for this ceremony to continue."

However, Wardes didn't pay any attention to Wales, and took Louise's hand.

"…You are just nervous. Dear Louise. You cannot be seriously refusing my offer."

"I'm sorry, Wardes. I yearned for you. Maybe… maybe even loved you once. However, it is different now."

Then, Wardes gripped Louise's shoulder. The expression in his eyes changed. Gone was the usual kindness from his face, replaced with the chilly coldness of a reptile.

Wardes shouted in a feverish tone.

"The world, Louise! I will rule the world! You are necessary for that!"

Frightened by the sudden change in Wardes, Louise kept on shaking her head. This is not the gentle Wardes she admired before.

"…I, I am not needed for that."

Wardes extended both his hands, drawing Louise closer.

"You are necessary for me! Your ability! Your power!"

This Wardes was frightening Louise more and more. Not even in her wildest dreams did she imagine the gentle Wardes frowning or shouting like this. Louise tried to turn away.

"Louise, have you forgotten what I once told you! You are not inferior to even the Founder Brimir, you will grow up as an excellent mage some day! You just do not know about it yet! That talent!"

"Wardes, you…"

Louise's voice was trembling with fear. It was not the Wardes that Louise knew. What had changed him into such a person?

Somewhere, Dante rubbed his eyes again.

"What is it, partner?"

"My left eye is really acting strange."

"That's because you are tired."

However, the view of the devil hunter's left eye was getting distorted more and more.

"What the! I can see something!"

Dante shouted. That was really someone's view.

Dante's left and right eye felt like completely separate parts.

"I can see…"

"What can you see, partner?"

"Maybe, this is Louise's view." Dante said.

Now he recalled what Louise said some time age. "A familiar is the eyes and ears of its master, that's their ability."

However, Louise said she couldn't see anything through my eyes... It must be, there must be cases when the rules are reversed.

But why can I see Louise's view all of sudden?

Dante looked at his right hand. The rune carved there was shining brightly, even though he wasn't holding any weapon. Indeed, his guess must be correct.

This was his ability. Truly, it must be another ability of the legendary familiar Windálfr.

Let's see, I guess that's what Louise is seeing with her left eye then? While thinking so, Dante's natural curiosity took the lead.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Wales, who couldn't stand Wardes' threatening attitude towards Louise any longer, stepped in.

"Viscount…, that's enough. Behave like a gentlema…"

However, Wardes struck away Wales' extended hand.

"Shut up!"

Wales stood still, surprised by Wardes words. Wardes clasped Louise's hand with his and she felt as if it was a snake twining around it.

"Louise! You are necessary for me!"

"I don't have any talent as a mage." She lies,

"I told you many times already! You are just not aware of your power, Louise!"

Louise tried to shake off Wardes' hand, but the incredible strength with which he was holding on to her prevented it. Grimacing in pain, Louise spoke.

"I would rather die than marry you. I understand now, you never loved me. You only loved a magical power in me that you foolishly think I have. It is cruel, to marry someone just because of such a reason. It's an insult!"

Louise raged. Wales put a hand on Wardes' shoulder, trying to pull him away, but Wardes pushed Wales instead, who fell on the ground. Wales face turned red, and, after standing up again, he pulled out his cane.

"You, what impoliteness! It's an insult! Viscount, move your hands away from la Vallière right now! Or else my magical blade will tear you up!"

Only then Wardes' hand finally let Louise go. A kind smile spread on his lips. However, the smile was forced and obviously fake.

"Even if I ask you this way you won't do it? Louise. My Louise."

Louise spoke, while trembling from anger.

"No, there is no doubt left that you are not the one whom I would ever marry."

Wardes looked up at the sky.

"And I made such great efforts, to capture your feelings during this journey…"

Wardes spread his hands widely, while throwing his head backwards.

"Well, it can't be helped. I guess I will have to give up on this goal."

"Goal?"

Louise looked doubtful. What was he thinking about?

The corners of Wardes' lips went up, forming an ill looking smile.

"That's right. There were three goals for me to achieve during this travel. Sadly, I achieved only two of them."

"Achieve? Two? What are you talking about?" Louise asked, feeling the shivers of uneasiness travel down her spine. Her mind was working at full power, trying to figure out what was happening.

Wardes put out his right hand in front holding up three fingers, and bent his forefinger.

"First one was you, Louise. I had to get you. However, it seems that I won't be able to accomplish that."

"Obviously not!"

Wardes smiled, bending his middle finger.

"The second goal, Louise, is in your pocket - Henrietta's letter."

Louise was startled.

"Wardes, you…"

"And, the third…"

After hearing Wardes saying "Henrietta's letter", Wales understood everything, pulled out his cane and started to chant a spell.

However, Wardes had already prepared two complete spells before.

Wardes aimed his wind cane that had started shining, towards the Prince's chest.

Suddenly, the stained glass roof of the bursts into pieces, and a crimson blur drops from above, and deflects the wind spear, dispersing it as if it was nothing.

"YOU!" Wardes shouted at the newcomer,

It was Dante, whipping the massive pistol Ivory in his hand aimed at the now unravelled traitor.

"Am I too late to object?" Dante said, pressing the trigger.

A loud pistol shot rang through the cathedral, as Dante unceremoniously shot the magic knight on the forehead, sending him flying ten meters away from them and instantly killing him.

"Heh, that takes care of that." Dante grins and holsters the gun away, he turns to the pinkette and asked, "You okay kid?"

Louise is in a word, shocked, at how fast the events are unravelling in her eyes.

"H-how? W-why?" was all she managed to squeak out.

"Now, isn't the right time to explain." The devil hunter said, as he felt something approach from the skies.

'Crap.' Dante swore under his breath. He then turns to the the Prince and Louise.

"Get behind me, both of you! Quickly!" he commanded the two Nobles with such urgency that they followed without question.

With a screech and a growl, Wardes' Griffin dove from the roof and lands with great force beside the already cooling corpse.

Strangely, the griffin begins to glow in an unearthly, sickly light. It approached the corpse, which unbelievable twitched once, twice, before it rose albeit clumsily. Then the corpse that once was Wardes opened its eyes, the pupils are now glowing with eldritch light.

The corpse opens its mouth and begins to roar as the Griffin and fused into one abomination, a 10 meter tall Griffin-thing that bears Wardes face, standing on two legs with some human features scattered in its body.

Its mouth filled with sharp fangs, dripped purple ichor, the red eagle eyes rested upon the three...

Dante didn't look surprised at all, but the other two behind him were beyond shocked.

"What sorcery is this?" Wales asked no one in particular.

"Something which I have hunted before I got here…" Dante said seriously, preparing Rebellion for a strike.

The Devil-Griffin's Screech-Roar rattled the cathedral.

"A Devil."

／人◕ .◕人＼

Author notes:

What the f…

Ah, and the plot goes nuts…

I have no idea what I just wrote so I made stupid mistakes...

Please comment if you wish me to continue writing.


	13. Mission 13 : Unexpected Twist

I NEED a new job! : )

Nothing much to say… just enjoy reading…

Let's begin…

Mission 13 : Unexpected Twist,

Excerpts from Brimmierre's secret journal:

"We managed to defeat the enemy after much sacrifice. But why don't I feel like we won?"

／人◕ . ◕人＼

For a certain someone:

Fantasy pic : Guiche poses in DMC4 Nero's costume, leaning against a castle wall. On his back is the customized single edged sword Red Queen, his left hand holds the Blue Rose aiming at something off screen. In his right hand, he holds his rose wand towards his face in a dramatic fashion.

Though, one thing seems to be off, as Verdandi the mole, perched on his shoulder is trying to look badass, but ends up looking cute.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Dante sighed at the situation they're in. Not only is Wardes a traitor to his own country but a friggin' Devil?

Talk about bad luck.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Anyways, if you're wondering how Dante managed to find this place:

Hours Earlier,

In a field close to the Wales family chapel, Dante made camp of the area, staking the place out. Knowing full well that this is where the wedding would be held.

Dante summons the Golden Fleece, the mysterious, multi-purpose Devil Arm in cloth form.

Like a magician, he spreads the cloth over the grass, and quickly removed it revealing a healed and beautifully restored Fouquet, now taking back her given name Matilda, having tea. She's sitting on a chair next to a tea table laden with various teatime and finger foods.

No matter how many times Dante uses this legendary item from hell, it still surprises him.

"Oh, it's you." Matilda said nonchalantly,

"Wow, you're looking rather better." Dante whistled,

"If you're thinking I would thank you for saving me, you're wasting your time."

"I was hardly thinking about that. I just need information."

"On what?"

Dante takes the empty seat and faced the pretty thief.

"The one who set you free from the prison and hired you. "

Matilda falls silent as she stared at the teacup. Then she looked deeply into the devil hunter's eyes.

'Oh how lovely those eyes are' she couldn't help but think.

"I think you already know who that is, am I right?"

"I have my suspicions, I just need to be more sure, "the devil hunter stated, rubbing his chin with one hand.

"And by the looks of it, he made you a geas so you won't be able to turn stool pigeon on him."

That shocked Matilda, as she never even mentioned her condition to the devil hunter.

"Don't look surprised. Commoner I may be, but I had my share on having cases regarding magic and the supernatural stuff back in the day. Wait, did I just sound like an old man?"

That statement elicited a giggle from the former noblewoman.

"I wish I could help but, as you now know…" she began, and stared at the teacup.

"The geas will kill you once you reveal his name and his information. Yeah, got that covered." Dante said as he extends his right arm towards the former noblewoman's head and touched her forehead with his index finger. Glowing rune writings appeared on her forehead.

"Well, now this looks well made, but I could fix this one easy." Dante said with a flick of his finger he forced his own magic into the rune overriding the magic used to carve it in the first place, the glowing runes broke with a sound of glass breaking.

"Now, isn't that better?" Dante softly smiles at the young woman, who blushed at the touch of the snow-haired devil hunter.

"Y-yeah," she replied and took a draught of tea, looking a bit shyer than she did earlier.

"So, who was the guy?"

"He's been travelling with you guys all along, it is Wardes." Matilda confirms,

"Thought so," the devil hunter nodded.

"Do you know what the rest of his plans are?"

"Unfortunately I was just contracted to just distract you so he can make off with Valliere. Well, killing you guys would have been a bonus. Obviously, I failed." She shrugged saying in a way as if she was just telling a gossip.

Dante sighed, took a sack from his coat and gives it to the thief..ergo… ex-thief.

"What is this?"

"Just a little fee for your cooperation." Dante said as he tries a spot of tea, and found this one surprisingly good.

Matilda looks inside the sack, and finds that it contained an assortment of the finest jewels she had ever seen, so much that she could actually give up being a thief and live a quiet and peaceful life.

"W-why?" She stuttered "I mean, after all what I did to you…"

"Just take it Babe, I may have no idea of your past, but you seem like a good person after all."

"Oho, how sure are you that I am?" Matilda challenges the statement.

"You never actually killed any person since you started living like this. Besides that, I know a good person when I meet one. So just take it and start anew."

People called her terrible names and gave unsavoury rumors of her earlier escapades. But never had it mentioned her ever killing any of her victims.

"Are you sure of this? Letting me get away, the greatest thief in history of Halkeginia." She asks. And it seemed that her vision seems to be clouding. Though she may have long convinced herself that there are no longer people that would genuinely care for the likes of her but…

"Yeah."

Matilda's eyes widened at the how easily Dante just replied.

Silence,

"T-thank you," she mumbled.

"So, what are your plans after this?" Dante asked Matilda, who looked like she's on a verge of tears.

Matilda quickly recovers and looked back at the devil hunter. Suddenly , she finds the handsome devil hunter becoming more delectable.

"I'll be going back to my village at Saxe-Gotha to live with my sister, she takes care of an orphanage there. You should visit us sometime there. And maybe we could..." Matilda said as her voice turns sultry, and she began to move close to the handsome devil hunter; close enough for something to happen, and glides her index finger on his chest.

"Yeah, I just might take you up on that offer." Dante smiled, looking a bit interested at what Matilda might be insinuating.

Matilda blushed, especially to the fact that the devil hunter is not resisting in her advances at all.

"Aren't you asking me about Wardes anymore?"

"Nope, I guess I'll have to ask him the rest of it myself."

Matilda suddenly shivered as she remembered something,

"Dante, there's another thing you should know about that man."

Dante's eyes grew serious at the tone of her voice.

She's scared of the guy.

"He's not human."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Okay, back to the horror that is the GriifinWardes;

Louise couldn't believe, she wouldn't want to believe it.

Louise looked in horror at the grotesque parody of a once noble creature in front of her.

What exacly is Wardes? Is this the true form of Wardes?

Her long time acquaintance and fiancé is this…thing?

What the heck? Was all that Wardes said to her, lies?

"Sorry Louise, but as your guardian being, I won't allow you to marry this guy." Dante said to the pinkette, who's still in shock at how this situation developed.

"I mean look at him…er…it." He continued pointing at the devil,

"W-why…" Louise tries to say something but failed to continue.

"Anyways, I'll explain later. Besides, I promised you that I will beat him up next time we fight, right?" Dante smiled and winks before taking a step forward.

Dante aims Ivory at the devil, "Since you're up and all. Mind if you answer some questions?"

The creature roars and slams its claws, sending tremors for 50 meters around, causing large amount of debris to fall all around them, and also most of them blocking the doors, effectively imprisoning them with the monster.

"I guess that's a 'no', huh?" Dante said, putting Rebellion on his back, with Derflinger,

"Hey, how about using me?" Derflinger asked

"Not this time."

Dante looks at the two Nobles behind him, "I suggest you guys take cover somewhere. This could get messy." He advised the Louise and Wales.

The two nobles need no more goading as they went behind the largest still standing pillar.

"Let's Rock!." Dante grins, draws Ebony and aims the double pistols at the devil.

The devil hunter wasted no time and begins relentlessly pumping lead at the devil, which as it roared, summons a powerful, continuous whirlwind, deflecting the bullets away from its body.

Dante, seeing that guns, won't do scratch, holsters them, cracked his knuckles as he declares, "As I remembered, I still owe you a match."

He makes a pose dramatically with Rebellion in front of him before suddenly rushed towards the GriffinWardes, in a speed much faster than he did when they first fought, a powerful lunge, and thrusts the sword with such power that the wind shield was temporarily dissipated.

Seizing the opportunity, Dante deals a dozen slashes and cuts using Rebellion, with each and every slash cuts through the devil.

But as Dante observed, as he cut, the creature's injuries seemed to heal almost instantaneously. He leaps ten feet away from the creature as the devil tries to maul him with its claws and reaffirms its windshield.

"Hm... Seems like we need to take this to another level then..."

GriffinWardes screeched in response, its powerful wings opened up and begins to fly, sending powerful gusts of wind around as it took the air. It then prepares to fire a ball of compressed wind from its beak.

As much as he wants to use his greater power, due to the presence of the nobles at the chapel, he just can't.

The backlash of the fight at that form will cause the building to be crushed, possibly injuring both Louise and Wales in the process.

For now, this will have to do.

"Let's get it on." Dante challenged as he took a stylish stance, points to the devil and snaps his fingers.

Red aura begins to emanate from the devil hunter as he unlocks just a bit of his true power, to the point that Dante pulses and glows with energy. When it suddenly dissipates, it becomes clear that Dante to have grown stronger than he is earlier, even the two bystanders could tell.

As the two Nobles looked on, Wales couldn't help but gaze at the devil hunter in awe as he asked, "Who is this man?"

Louise on the other hand, saw something else as Dante sort-of levelled up. Dante's image distorts, as another image, an ethereal form superimposes Dante. She could only describe it as…not human.

"What is that?" She gasped, as a powerful presence could be felt by the two nobles, forcing them down on their knees.

For your information:

Dante's current power is equal to his Devil Trigger when he was younger, might be even more so. But this is not a Devil Trigger, yet.

GriffinWardes fires a series of pressurized balls of wind at the devil hunter, more powerful versions of the wind mage spell Air Hammers, as Dante rolls left and right to avoid the shots, moving closer and closer to the devil, bidding his time.

Running along the chapel walls, pillars and ceiling, he continuously evades the attacks as he draws the creature away from the two humans. Dante finally dashed towards the devil, leaving a trail of afterimages and red magical circles in the air, and suddenly jumps over the creature. Using a series of magical seals, he jumps on them, sending him further skyward.

"Your wind shield has flaw."

A whirlwind shield has an opening above it.

Gunslingin',

Dante grins as he dives towards the GriffinWardes and draws Ebony and Ivory, aims downward and fires them while spinning like a drill, raining the devil with a hail of lead.

Taste the Rainstorm,

The devil roared as the bullets tore though its body, sending it falling back down to the floor with the force of the .45 caliber rounds.

"Nice work girls," Dante praised his guns, putting them away.

"Ass kicking time." Dante crows, his arms and legs suddenly get covered by the Devil Arm, Beowulf.

Gripping the Rebellion, Dante attacks with the Helm Breaker, hitting the devil squarely in the head, severely wounding it.

As blood gushes out of its head, it begins to heal itself; Dante lost no time as he lunges to the creature and,

"Blast Off!" Dante shouts as he swings Rebellion upwards, sending the GriffinWardes up into the air in High Time.

Dante follows the launched enemy in the air and slashes the devil repeatedly in an Aerial Rave. GriffinWardes screeches in pain, as Dante attacked inhumanely fast, more quickly than it healed itself.

"Come on, I still haven't worked up a sweat yet." Dante grins as he puts Rebellion in his back, and using Beowulf, he performed a series of downward kicks in mid-air that struck GriffinWardes with supersonic speeds, sending shockwaves all around the two, as they slowly descend to the ground.

Feel the sting of The Killer Bee.

GriffinWardes falls hard on the chapel floor, leaving a deep impression on the floor.

Dante lands on the floor, draws Rebellion and lunges forward and stabs the devil with the much stronger Stinger, with the force sending it slamming to the wall.

"Seriously, I can't even call this a workout." Dante acts disappointed, walking towards the devil, putting the Rebellion on his back.

Before the devil could react, Dante dashed towards it with a lunge using Beowulf's The Straight, and connects to the GriffinWardes' center. The wall behind it caves with the force of the punch.

The creature, grunts with the force driven to it and apparently loses its consciousness.

"Time to fry this bird." Dante said as he pulls back his right fist.

Dante then charges Beowulf with great amount of light energy to finish off the battle, but suddenly he stopped charging the devil arm and dismissed it. The ghostly image that only Louise could see, superimposing the devil hunter disappears, as well as the overwhelming pressure it seemed to emanate.

Louise and Wales, who watched the battle in awe at the skills of the devil hunter, suddenly snaps from their stupor.

Louise shouts at her summoned being as she runs toward him, "What the? What are you doing?"

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

-Interrogation –

Dante takes a closer look at the devil's face, "Hmm, seems like there's still a human in you."

Louise and Wales didn't know what Dante is talking about until they took another look at the devil that was once the pride of the Tristanian Army.

The GriffinWardes was unconsciously shedding tears. "Mo-ther." It groaned,

An eldritch light suddenly engulfs the creature and when it dissipated, it revealed an alive but immobilized Wardes due to damages he recieved,

"He's still alive?" Wales said, taking out his wand.

"He is?" Louise cried and suddenly hides behind the devil hunter

Wardes, groans as he regains his consciousness, "W-what happened?"

*Click*

Dante puts Ebony to the man's forehead, "As much as I'm concerned at how the hell did you manage to do that party trick, I would like to ask you what you are planning to do with Louise and Wales."

Wardes coughed out blood, as he tries to speak. There's no hope of escape for him after all.

"She has the power to help our organization to advance with our plans."

"The Reconquista, right?" Dante said,

Wardes coughed and tries to speak again,

"Yes, We were gathering allies for us to be put forth a crusade to take back the Holy Land from the elves."

"We already heard of that. What exactly do you want with Louise?" Wales asked

"She has the power of the Void. Though she may realize it or not."

"Void? The legendary element?" Wales looks at Louise, and seeing her expression...

"Is it true?"

Louise just looks down and nods.

Dante sighed, "Looks like the cat's out of the bag."

"Truth be told, I still have no idea what exactly does my element do, at least I can cast basic spells properly, but that's it." Louise explained.

Wardes turns to look at the pinkette smiling bitterly, "I apologize for trying to take you. I was desperate."

'Desperate?' Louise thought,

"You're also tasked on taking out the Prince besides taking Louise and the letter," Dante deduced as he removed the pistol from aiming to Wardes' forehead, stepping away.

Wardes nodded in admission.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Wardes asked as looked at the devil hunter intently,

"I made a point not to kill humans, I only kill devils."

"But I am a devil. The Griffin and I are two sides of the same creature. He contained most of my power while I took the human form."

'Talk about a split personality.' Dante thought as he spied something gleaming among Wardes' tattered clothes.

An ornate locket.

"Say what you like. But to me, you're still human." Dante said as he looked at the locket on Wardes person.

The locket was slightly open, revealing a small portrait of a beautiful lady with gorgeous golden locks. Her feature emanates strength, kindness and compassion, something that Dante is familiar of. And she definitely shares Wardes' looks.

'Not another Mama's Boy,' Dante thought but kept his stoic façade.

If he ever said that aloud, he'd just end up getting the jab right back at him.

Wardes was confused at the statement, "What do you mean…?"

"Because devils never cry." Dante answers as looked away...

Turning his attention back to Wardes' interrogation, he continued,

"And by the sound of it, I seemed that you don't have the same sentiments as the people you're with. What's the story?"

"I need to…" Wardes statement was cut off, as a powerful force struck the former magic knight.

"After all we planned to set this thing up for you." Someone else spoke out of thin air.

An ethereal blue epee sword stabs Wardes' chest. And holding the blade is a deep-blue cloaked figure. The figure's features are hidden by the hood, but its rather average-sized body seemed androgynous, could be a male or female.

The same figure that Louise saw in her dream, 'No, it can't be.'

'How the heck did he manage to evade my senses?' Dante thought.

The figure twists the sword, eliciting a cry of pain from the former griffin knight.

"We can't have a Judas in our midst now, can we?" The figure spoke with a distorted voice, putting a heavy boot on Wardes face,

*Bang*

Dante shoots the figure using Ebony, sending the figure flying ten feet away from Wardes,

Louise runs over to the injured man, monster or not, she still shared a history together.

"Lord Wardes!" she cried, as she tried to attend to him.

Wardes was unable to speak due to the fatal strike.

He extends his hand to the crying Louise to try to remove her tears.

"Please save my mother..." he managed to mumble before losing his last reserve of strength as he gives Louise his locket.

'My Louise, please don't cry anymore,' Was his last thought before losing his life, again.

Louise continued to cry, as she gripped the locket.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

Dante kept his aim at the fallen figure.

"I know you're still alive."

A snicker came from the figure as it disappeared.

Louise and Wales were startled and turned their attention toward the figure and the events that come next.

And reappears and suddenly stabs Dante with a 12-foot, gigantic ghostly Bastard Sword to the stomach and pins him to the wall with a move similar to the Stinger, with a force enough to cause the wall behind Dante to form large spider web cracks.

Dante was surprised at how fast the figure moved, and was unable to retaliate.

Now Dante appeared motionless, stuck to the chapel wall like a pinned bug.

Louise is trembling at the sight, "DANTE, NOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed,

The entrance of a new player in the field is now complete.

"And now for the Prince," the figure said, and suddenly dashed towards the Nobles, producing another ethereal blade, this time, a single edged, long curved sword similar to the Japanese Nodachi.

Louise suddenly breaks to a run and stops in front of the Prince,

"You'll have to go through me before you can kill the prince." She growled, though her knees are shaking with fear.

The figure suddenly stops, as it saw Louise.

Still, the figure raised its sword, prepares to kill both of them in one stroke.

But for some strange reason, it seems hesitant as its eyes seemed to gaze at the pinkette's expression, completely resolved on protecting the Prince with her life.

A laugh emanated from Dante.

"Heh, It's been a while since I got hit like that," Dante's body begins to glow red once again.

Louise was shocked. She knew that Dante could heal fast, but not to this extent. As she looked on, it seemed that she could see Dante's image flicker once again, and an image superimposed on the devil hunter, a bit clearer than the last time, a ghostly image of a red, humanoid…creature, something that Louise saw in her dreams.

"Just what are you, Dante?" she muttered as she gazed on in fear and awe as Dante makes his move.

Dante grabs the ethereal sword's blade, and in one smooth move he breaks them, and as he did the whole weapon fades to thin air.

"Still hurts like hell though." Dante said, landing with on his feet looking no worse than when they arrived at Albion. And inexplicably, even his clothes didn't show any damage. The superimposing image dissipates.

"You're the first person I have ever known to have survived my Dainsleif's assault." The blue cloaked assassin said, cocking its head to the side.

"Shall we continue?" Dante said, as he suddenly disappears and reappears right behind the figure, with Rebellion raised for a Helm Breaker.

The blue cloaked figure turns to the devil hunter and as it did, fades like smoke, reappearing at the hole in the ceiling, and the Rebellion just strikes the chapel floor.

"Oh dear, it seems that I managed to eliminate only one of the targets. Let's postpone the match till next time. In the meantime, a large army will soon burst in. Hey! Can you hear the sound of horses' hooves and dragons' wings!" The figure said,

Indeed, one could hear the noise of cannons and sounds of fire magic explosions outside, as well as the roaring voices of nobles and soldiers mixed up in a battle.

"Who are you?" Wales managed to ask,

"Call me... Cobalt." The blue cloaked assassin said as it disappeared.

"Our first meeting was fun, I can't wait to see you again, Son of Sparda."

Throwing these last parting words, Cobalt disappeared through the hole in the wall.

Louise finally succumbs to shock and exhaustion and faints.

Dante ran up to Louise.

"Louise!"

Dante shook Louise trying to wake her up to no avail. Dante put his ear to Louise's chest.

Thump, thump, thump…

Hearing the faint heartbeat, he breathed out a sigh of relief. Louise was worn-out. Her mantle was torn, and her knees and cheek bruised from the backlash of the battle.

And there must be more bruises under the clothes, too.

Louise's hand was grasping her chest. Her breast pocket button came off, and one could see Henreitta's letter peeping out from the inside. It seemed that, even unconscious, Louise was still protecting the letter.

'Really, I am so glad you are alright.' Dante thought.

"Dante what are you planning to do now? The Eagle already left the port…" Wales asked

That's right. To save Louise, Dante didn't board the Eagle's deck.

"Is that so?"

"Can't you hear the shouts outside? Shit has already hit the fan." Derflinger said

Indeed, explosions and battle roars were getting closer and closer to the walls. It was only a matter of time before they would come bursting in here.

Wales now proceeds to walk out of the chapel though the hole Dante made during his fight against the devil Wardes.

"Are you sure about this?" Dante asks the Prince, who stopped and without looking back he tells him,

"Dante, Son of Sparda, I will put my trust in you that she will receive this."

Something flies towards the devil hunter, who reached out and caught it.

It was the Prince's ring.

"…Just tell her I love very much."

"You knew of Sparda?"

"The story has been passed amongst the family members about the Legendary Dark Knight. And that he fought valiantly in the struggle for Halkeginia's freedom, many, many years ago."

It seems like his father left an impression on these people.

Dante slowly shook his head, remembering their current mission, but as a man, he must honor the Prince's will. But at least he could try one more time,

"This will be one suicide mission for you."

The Prince with his back turned to the devil hunter, stopped and said,

"After what I have seen you do, and the fact that I actually saw how a legendary Dark Knight must have fought, I was actually inspired and challenged to show the world my resolve. And this might be the best and the only chance I could ever have."

"Are you really sure? You'll be facing a lot of them out there,"

"Doesn't matter. I have something that needs to be protected." The Prince said, and muttered under his breath, "My, Dearest Henrietta."

Dante was able to hear that one. Finally giving up with convincing the Prince to escape, he could only say,

"Give them hell out there."

"I will."

Wales then continued to walk on unflinchingly never looking back, until he disappears from Dante's sight.

'Seriously, he is one of the most stubborn men I have ever met.' Dante thought.

'To kick ass, or not to kick ass, that is the question.' He thought,

For as much as Dante wanted to join the fray, he promised himself not to kill humans, as much as possible.

Besides, as far as he knew, if he ever showed his abilities right here, Tristain might get involved. Based by experience, in wars like this, innocents will get inevitably involved.

And he still needs to get Louise out of here.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

As Dante plans an escape route, he was contemplating whether to follow the Prince, and drag him off if possible, or just let the Prince play Leonidas for the first and final time.

Suddenly, a group of soldiers appeared. The Reconquista.

"Death to the Royals!" was their battlecry as they rushed inside the chapel, to sack the place, in the guise of a crusadefor freedom.

What they saw is the snow haired man in a red flowing coat, rushing up to them in inhuman speeds...

Seconds later, they found themselves flying out of the building, before their consciousness falls into oblivion...

／人◕ . ◕人＼

With his frustration temporarily sated, Dante returns to pick Louise up, and then...

The ground, near the place where Louise was laid, rose up.

"What?"

Dante watched the ground.

"Is it an enemy? Digging under?" Derflinger asks,

He lowered Rebellion towards the hole, out of which a brown animal soon popped its head.

"Aaaaaaaan?"

Dante's eyebrow twitched,

Seriously...

And then that brown animal started groping Louise's body that was lying near sides.

"Verdandi, then that must mean..." Dante deadpanned, and soon enough from the same hole that Verdandi came out, Guiche's face appeared.

Hey! Verdandi! You can dig a hole anywhere! Good boy! Gu…."

Guiche turned his soil smeared face from Dante and noticed Louise lying nearby, then said pretending not to know.

"Ha! You! You are here!"

"W-what are you doing here!"

"Well, We decided to follow you. It is our duty as princess Henrietta's honor depends on it, right?"

"But this place is in the sky! How the heck did you get here!"

Then, near Guiche, Kirche's face popped out.

"Tabitha's Sylphid."

"Kirche?"

"We reached Albion successfully, but since it's a foreign country we didn't know where to go. But then, Verdandi started digging a hole all of sudden, so we followed him."

Meanwhile the huge mole was pressing his nose to the 'Ruby of Water' that was shining on Louise's finger. Guiche nodded.

"Indeed. He followed the smell of the ruby, and started digging a tunnel to here. My cute Verdandi, because of his love for jewels he was able to follow from La Rochelle and dug a hole to get here.

Dante shook his head in amazement. He surely, never expected to be saved by a mole.

Not that he could do it himself.

"Are you alright? By the way, darling, what are you doing here?" Kirche asked while wiping off the dirt from her face with a handkerchief.

Dante shrugged.

"Dear? Is something wrong dear?"

"We'll talk about it later! The enemy will burst in soon! Go!"

"Running away, and the mission? What about Viscount Wardes?"

"We have the letter! Wardes is dead! Return back now!"

"What? Well I do not understand it, but it seems everything ended already." Kirche said in nonchalant voice.

With Louise in his arms, Dante slowly made his way through the hole. He left Louise in Guiche's care and hurried back to get Wales.

However, Wales had long gone.

Dante, as much as he wanted to get that stupid prince, he still had to ensure the rest of the group with him safe.

'Damn it all..' Dante swore.

"What are you doing there Master! Please come back quickly!" Guiche called Dante back.

Dante looked at Wales' ring he gave Dante.

The ruby belonged to Albion's royal family.

Dante put it in his pocket.

"Brave stupid, bad ass prince… You won't be forgotten." Dante muttered.

"Defend the things you believe in, huh?" Dante said, looking intently at the hole in the wall where the Prince had disappeared, and dashed back to the hole.

The same moment Dante dove in the hole, the noble soldiers and mages broke through the door and jumped into the chapel.

The tunnel Verdandi dug ran right under the Albion's continent. So the moment Dante got out of the hole, there was nothing but clouds beneath, yet Sylphid successfully caught all four falling people and a mole.

The mole that the wind dragon caught with its mouth, let out a protesting cry.

"Please try to endure it, my cute Verdandi. Bear with it until we get off in Tristain again."

With powerful wing strokes, the wind dragon broke through the surrounding clouds and changed direction to the Magical Academy.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Dante, with Louise in his arms, looked up at the continent of Albion.

Clouded and empty, blue inside, the Albion continent disappeared. Though it was a short stay there, Dante had various things to remember, as the white country faded from view.

Dante watched Louise lying in his arms. Her white cheeks were dirty with blood and soil, yet even in this state, one could see her aristocratic features. There were two stripes from her eyes down her cheeks left by her tears.

Dante wiped Louise's face with his sleeve. He could not bear to see the face of his pretty cute contractor dirty.

Louise was still unconscious from the shock. Looking at Louise's face was somehow painful to Dante. "Dear Louise. The stupid girl Louise…"

Now Dante looked only at Louise's face pressed gently to his chest.

Meanwhile, Louise was absent-mindedly wandering in dream.

The dream in la Vallière's place, in her hometown.

A pond in a forgotten courtyard…

There a small boat was floating… Here Louise was lying down when facing difficulties. Louise always hid herself and slept there. Her world that no one else intruded in. Her secret place…

Louise's heart was in pain.

But Wardes didn't come here anymore. Gentle viscount Wardes, her childhood noble crush, her fiancé of marriage arranged by their fathers' mutual agreement…

Young Louise sobbed softly; there was no Wardes who would take her from her secret place anymore. He was a dirty betrayer that tried to murder the courageous prince, those kind hands belonged to a monster. But he might have reasons why…

Louise cried in her shallop.

But then, someone came.

"Is that you, Viscount?"

Louise asked in her dream. But she shook her head at once. No, the viscount didn't come here anymore. Then, who?

It was the boy she dreamed of often besides Dante. The one she apparently summoned as a familiar in her dreams. The sword was hanging on his back, when he without hesitation about getting wet stepped into the pond and approached Louise's shallop.

Who is this boy to her?

But Louise's heart throbbed.

The boy picked up Louise out of the shallop and held her in his arms.

"Have you been crying?"

The boy asked. Louise nodded childishly in her dream.

"Stop crying. Louise. My Louise."

Louise tried to get angry. This boy, how dare he call me 'My Louise'. She doesn't know him at all. But when she opened her mouth to scold him, her lips were closed again with a kiss. Though she wriggled in rage at first, the strength soon left her body.

Louise woke up on a wind dragon's back, in Dante's arms.

She became aware that she was held in Dante's arms. They were sitting near the wind-dragon's tail, and Dante sat there embracing her. She stared at his face from the side as it seemed like he didn't notice that she was awake.

Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche – all three of them, were sitting on the front of the wind dragon's back.

The wind was blowing against her cheeks.

"Aah, this isn't a dream."

Then…

"I survived."

Louise's mind was filled with feverish thoughts.

I was almost killed by that Wardes, but then Dante jumped in. Wardes became a monster, someone else tried to kill the Dante and the Prince. After that, though, I lost consciousness… Dante musths've won.

But only we survived, maybe the royal army was still defeated.

Wales died as well.

The happiness of surviving mixed with sadness almost made Louise cry. However, not wanting to cry in front of Dante, she closed her eyes.

She was also ashamed to say thank you. Though she could not understand why, she was comfortable with Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche – with all of them. But thanking Dante before everyone felt really embarrassing. Therefore, Louise decided to pretend she was sleeping.

Nevertheless, Louise still secretly watched him from the corner of her half-closed eyes.

The air dragon increased speed.

Strong wind hit her cheeks.

But that wind felt pleasant.

Her mind is in a swirl.

Traitor and a devil, Wardes.

His true reason of betrayal.

The blue-clad, mysterious assassin Cobalt.

Crown prince's inevitable death…

Noble union's 'Reconquista' victory…

Report to the Princess…

For various reasons, and while Louise felt sorry for them all, right now all Louise's thoughts were blown away by the wind.

After nearly escaping death, she wanted to savour the feeling of life for a while.

Like that, savouring the feeling of life without limits, while pretending to sleep…

Dante's face moved closer.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Dante's lips kissed Louise's forehead.

"Sleep well, princess." He said as he looked back to the floating Albion.

Strong wind hit Louise's cheeks, as Sylphid flew through the sky.

Something warm filled her heart, a heart that was wounded by sad events was healed. She felt like she's being watched over by a caring father.

Some time ago she was struggling violently against the feeling in her dream.

But at least for now she has Dante as family…

There's still time for true love...

The pleasant wind blew from a different world…

Resting her cheek against his chest, she silently fell asleep.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Tristain's Royal Palace was situated on the end of Bourdonne's Street. In front of the Royal Palace gates, members of the Mage Guards patrolled atop their magical steeds. The rumor that war was looming had begun spreading through the town two or three days ago. It was rumoured that the aristocrat faction that had conquered Albion, "Reconquista", was poised to invade Tristain.

Therefore, the mood of the soldiers who guarded the surroundings grew tenser. In the skies above the Royal Palace, magical beasts and ships alike were banned from flying, and people who passed the gates were thoroughly checked.

Even tailors, confectionery shop employers, and traders were stopped and inspected thoroughly at the gates, so as to prevent mages disguised through illusion, or people under the control of charming magic from getting through.

It was because it was under such circumstances, that when a wind dragon appeared in the skies above the Royal Palace, the garrison of Mage Guards grew alarmed.

The Mage Guards was composed of three corps, and each guarded the Royal Palace in turn. Whilst one was on duty, the others either rested or trained. Today, it was the Manticore Corps that was on duty. Riding atop their manticores, the nobles flew up and headed towards the wind dragon that had appeared above the Royal Palace. There were five figures on the wind dragon's back, as well as a huge mole that was held in between the dragon's mouth.

The Mage Guards warned them that this was a prohibited flight zone, yet the wind dragon, ignoring the warning, landed in the palace courtyards.

Atop was a blondish pink-haired beautiful girl, a tall lady with burning red hair, a blond boy, a small, petite girl with glasses and a boy with black hair. The boy carried a long sword over his shoulder.

The manticore guardsmen quickly surrounded the wind dragon and simultaneously drew their rapier-shaped wands, assuming a stance with spells at the ready. A strongly-built, rough-mustached commander, bellowed a warning at the suspicious intruders:

"Drop your wands!"

Instantly, the expressions of the intruders grew hostile, but the short blue-haired girl amongst them shook her head.

"Royal Palace."

The party nodded reluctantly, and as ordered, threw their wands to the ground.

"The skies above the Royal Palace is currently a prohibited flight zone. Didn't you know that?"

A girl with blondish pink hair lightly jumped off the dragon, and introduced herself in a firm voice:

"I am Duke de la Vallière's third daughter, Louise Françoise, not someone suspicious. I request an audience with her Highness, the princess."

The commander twisted his moustache as he watched the girl intently. He knew about the Vallière Duchy. After all, they were very renowned nobles.

The commander lowered his wand.

"You are Duke de la Vallière's third daughter?"

"Indeed."

Louise raised herself and stared straight into the commander's eyes.

"I see... I can see that you have your mother's eyes. Well, what is your purpose here?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. It's a secret."

"Then I'll have to deny your request. To grant an audience without knowing your purpose, it's something you lose your head over!" The Commander replied worriedly.

"The secret itself is not something that can be told either." Dante calmly said, as he jumped off the wind dragon.

The commander looked over at Dante as he interjected. He had a young but strong face. Clothes that he had never seen before. Snow-white hair. Pale skin. Two large swords draped over his back.

He looked Dangerous.

Though it wasn't clear what country he was from, one thing was for certain – he wasn't a noble.

"What a rude commoner. That's not the way a servant should speak to a noble. Stay silent."

Dante narrowed his eyes, and turned to Louise. It was the commander's disdainful tone that infuriated him. He's a little bit on the short fuse end of his patience at the moment.

Louise understood what the devil hunter is insinuating as she saw a slight red tinge in her summoned being's eyes.

"You don't have to. I know you can best him just as you beat Wardes." Louise said, never mentioning that little fact that Wardes turned to an abomination and still defeated by Dante.

Overhearing their conversation, the commander's eyes widened. Wardes? Wardes, as in that viscount Wardes, the commander of the Griffin corps? Defeated? What's the meaning of this?

Shaking the concern aside, the commander raised his magic wand again.

"Who the hell are you people? Regardless, I cannot allow you to see Her Highness."

The commander spoke out in a hard tone. The situation was quickly getting out of hand. Louise stared at Dante.

"What?"

"It's because of you and your face that they think we are suspicious!"

"It's all because of that bearded man and his damn attitude!"

"Shut up. You should have just kept your mouth shut!"

Watching the strange scene ahead of him, the commander quickly seized the situation. The mage guards which had surrounded the party quickly raised their wands.

"Arrest them!"

Under the commander's order, the guardsmen/mages were about to begin their incantations when suddenly...

A person clad in a purple mantle appeared from the palace gates. Seeing Louise surrounded by the Mage Guards, she frantically ran over.

"Louise!"

Seeing the figure of Henrietta rushing over, Louise's face shined like a rose.

"Princess!"

Under the gazes of the Mage guards, the two embraced one another in a hug.

"Aah, you came back safely. I'm glad. Louise, Louise Françoise…"

"Princess..."

Louise's eyes began watering with tears.

"The letter... it is safe."

Reaching into her breast pocket, Louise gently pulled out the letter. Henrietta nodded and firmly grasped Louise's hands.

"You really are my best friend."

"Your words are too kind, Princess."

However, upon noticing the absence of Wales in the midst of the party, Henrietta's expression grew somber.

"As I thought... Prince Wales sacrificed himself for his kingdom."

Louise closed her eyes and nodded quietly.

"... But what about viscount Wardes? I don't see him, did he take another route? Or did he... perhaps... fall by the hands of the enemy? But if it was the viscount, shouldn't..."

Louise's face grew grim. With much difficulty, Dante explained to Henrietta.

"Wardes was a traitor, Princess."

"Traitor?"

A shadow crept upon Henrietta's face. Then, noticing the deep stares of the Mage Guards around them, Henrietta quickly explained.

"They are my guests, commander sir."

"I see."

Upon hearing this, the commander withdrew his wand, if somewhat unwillingly, and told his troops to do the same.

Henrietta turned to Louise again.

"What exactly happened on your trip? ... Anyway, let's withdraw to my room before we continue. The rest of you, please get some rest in the other rooms."

Leaving Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche in the waiting room, Henrietta brought Dante and Louise to her own room. Henrietta sat down on a small and delicate chair, her elbows placed upon the desk.

Louise explained the entire situation to Henrietta.

How Kirche and the others joined them en route.

How they took a ship to Albion, and its subsequent attack by pirates.

That the pirate leader was Crown Prince Wales.

How even though escape was offered to Prince Wales, he refused.

And how… because of the wedding with Wardes, they missed the ship.

That in the middle of the wedding Wardes suddenly showed his true colours… tried to kill Prince Wales and prepared to snatch the letter from Louise's hands... Dante appeared…

What Wardes turned into.

The battle between Dante and the creature.

The ambitions of 'Reconquista'… to unite all of Halkeginia, to the grand goal of liberating the Holy Lands from the Elves.

The true intentions of the deceased viscount.

And the arrival of the blue-cloaked assassin.

And lastly, Prince Wales' conviction.

However... with the alliance between Tristain and Germania now secure, Henrietta still mourned.

"That viscount was in league with the Reconquista… How can that be? To have a traitor within the midst of the Mage Guards..."

Gazing at the letter she herself wrote to Wales, tears built and streamed down her cheeks.

"Princess…"

Louise silently held Henrietta's hands.

"It's my fault. No matter how you put it, it was I who chose the traitor to be the messenger…"

Dante shook his head. He knows there might be underlying reasons to his actions.

"The Prince had already planned on staying in his kingdom. It was not Your Highness's fault."

"Louise, did he, at the very least, read my letter?"

Louise nodded.

"Yes, Princess. Prince Wales read Your Highness's letter."

"Then, Prince Wales didn't love me."

Henrietta sorrowfully shook her head.

"Then... even after you urged the Prince to escape?"

Henrietta nodded whilst gazing at the letter in sorrow.

Louise recalled Wales' words. He kept stubbornly telling her that "Henrietta didn't tell me to escape". It was just as Louise had thought - a lie.

"Ahh, with your death, there is no longer any hope. What about me, my lost love?"

／人◕ . ◕人＼

_Musical Interlude Begin_

(Music : Queen's " Love of my life.")

Love of my life - you've hurt me

You've broken my heart and now you leave me

Love of my life can't you see

Bring it back, bring it back

Don't take it away from me

Because you don't know -

What it means to me

Love of my life - don't leave me

You've stolen my love and now desert me

Love of my life can't you see

Bring it back, bring it back

Don't take it away from me

Because you don't know -

What it means to me

You will remember -

When this is blown over

And everything's all by the way -

When I grow older

I will be there at your side to remind you

How I still love you - I still love you

Ooooo

Hurry back - hurry back

Dont take it away from me

Because you don't know

What it means to me

Love of my life

Love of my life ...

Oooh, ooooh...

_Musical interlude ends_

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Henrietta muttered softly in her daze.

"Was honor more important than me?"

But Dante came to a different conclusion. Wales remained not because he was trying to protect his honor. Rather, Wales remained so as to not give Henrietta any trouble... and to show the traitors that the royal families of Halkeginia were certainly not to be trifled with.

"It isn't as you think, Princess. It was because he did not wish to give Tristain any troubles that he remained in that country. That is how I see it."

Henrietta looked up at Dante blankly.

"To not give me any trouble?"

"His escape, as the Prince said, would only have given a perfect excuse for traitors to invade your kingdom."

"Even if Prince Wales didn't flee here, they would still invade here given the chance. But, without a reason to invade, peace can be kept. At the cost of his life, he prevented the rise of war."

"... Even then, he still didn't want to give trouble. Surely..."

Henrietta, sighing deeply, looked outwards from the window.

Dante slowly repeated the words he had remembered.

"To fight with bravery, to die with courage. That... was what he asked me to say."

"He truly, madly, deeply loved you. Princess."

Henrietta replied with a cheerless smile. When a princess, as beautiful as the delicate rose, became like this, even the air itself grew heavy. Dante's heart ached at the sight.

Henrietta, resting her elbows on the table beside a beautifully engraved marble statue, questioned sadly.

"To fight with bravery, to die with courage. That's your privilege as men. But what of those who are left behind, what are they to do?"

Dante was struck silent. He had nothing to say. He who had no one to leave behind in the pursuit of his mission, he couldn't answer what nor how. He looked away.

"Princess… If only I had tried harder to convince Prince Wales..." Louise began,

Henrietta stood up and clasped the hand of the muttering Louise.

"It's all right, Louise. You splendidly accomplished your mission, retrieving the letter. You should not have to be worried about anything. Because I didn't ask you to tell him to escape."

Henrietta laughed with a smile.

"With the obstacle that could have broken the marriage removed, our country will be able to step into the alliance with Germania safely. In such a situation, Albion will not so easily invade us. The crisis has passed, Louise Françoise."

Henrietta said it as brightly as possible.

Louise took out from her pocket the Water Ruby which Henrietta had given her.

"Princess, here, I return this to you."

Henrietta shook her head.

"Please hold on to it. It's the least I can do to express my gratitude."

"I cannot dare to accept such a treasure."

"For such loyalty, an appropriate reward should be bestowed. It is all right, put it on."

Louise nodded and put it on her finger.

Upon seeing this, Dante remembered the ring he received from Prince Wales. Taking it from the breast pocket of his coat, he placed it onto Henrietta's hands.

"Princess, this, is a keepsake from the Prince Wales."

Accepting the ring, Henrietta gasped in astonishment.

"Isn't this the wind ruby? Did you get it from Prince Wales?"

"Yes. Before he left, he passed the ring to me; he said to give it to Your Highness."

Such was the nobility of the smile, which Dante was dumbstruck by its beauty, and could only stay silent.

If he had said it like that, maybe it would help heal the ache Henrietta held in her heart, however little it could be.

Henrietta put the Wind Ruby on her finger. Because it was for Wales, it was too large for Henrietta's fingers… But when Henrietta muttered the 'decreasing' spell, the ring became narrower and narrower, and soon fit the finger snugly.

Henrietta lovingly stroked the Wind Ruby. Turning towards Dante, she gave a shy smile.

"Thank you, kind guardian."

A sad smile filled with grief, yet also a smile of gratefulness towards Dante. Such was the nobility of the smile that Dante could only smile unsurely.

"That man, he had died bravely. Is that right?"

Dante nodded.

"Yes. It was so."

Henrietta, whilst staring at the shining Wind Ruby, declared softly.

"Then I… I will live bravely as well."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

On the flight from the Royal Palace to the Academy of Magic, Louise remained silent. No matter how much Kirche asked Louise and Dante as to the contents of the letter Wales had written, the two kept their lips sealed.

"Oi, c'mon, won't you at least tell me what the mission was? And to say that the Viscount was a traitor, it's all so mysterious."

Kirche looked at Dante with a feverish glance.

"However, darling attacked him?"

Dante, having glimpsed Louise's face, nodded:

"Yup, and he got killed in the fray…"

"Still, that's quite an achievement! Hey, what was that mission exactly?"

Dante looked away and began whistling. Louise was even more silent, and neither spoke.

Kirche puckered up her brows and turned to Guiche.

"Hey, Guiche!"

"What?"

With an artificial rose in his mouth, Guiche, who was spacing out, turned around.

"Do you know what was in the letter Princess Henrietta sent us to retrieve?"

Guiche closed his eyes saying:

"I do not know as well. Only Louise knows."

"Louise the Zero! Why don't you tell me? Hey, Tabitha! What do you think? Well, I think that I am held for an idiot!"

Kirche shook Tabitha, who was reading the book. As she was being shaken, her head followed suit and shook as well.

Because of all the shaking by Kirche, the wind dragon lost balance and slowed down suddenly. Guiche, who was sitting on its back, lost his balance and fell down. "Gyaaaaaa!" he screamed as he fell, but since it was Guiche, no one noticed. Mid-way, he pulled out his wand, and using "Levitation" floated down slowly, avoiding near-death.

Louise lost her balance as well, but Dante softly reached out and held her waist with his hand, supporting her body. Seeing the hand on her waist, Lousie blushed.

So after all, having felt the hand move around her waist, Louise shouted in an angry voice:

"T-to be so bold, I'm going to get angry!"

"You looked like you were going to fall over. Like Guiche." Dante replied, his face looking blank.

"It's all right, even if Guiche falls - it is only Guiche." Stated Louise still bewildered from before.

"T-that's, even if he falls he will be all right. It would be troublesome if you fell however, since you cannot use magic properly."

"You are just a magic partner, and you dare insult your master?"

Louise drew a sharp breath and quickly averted her gaze. However, she didn't seem angry.

"You are being too daring. Hum."

Though Louise grumbled and complained, she didn't try to shake off Dante's hand. On the contrary, she leaned her body closer, snuggling against him. Yet, her face still remained averted. Dante stole a quick glance at Louise's face.

Her white cheeks were faintly dyed with pink and she was slightly biting her lower lip. Though Henrietta was beautiful... Louise was still incredibly cute, he thought, but then again this is Louise, his ward. The hand on the waist pressed closer. And felt how her waist and thighs pressed further into him.

'Oi, oi, something's not right here.' Dante thought,

It was just as this was happening, that Kirche spun around and muttered softly.

"Since when did you become like this, you two?"

Louise, suddenly realising how things looked, blushed a furious red and sent the still confused Dante flying off with a push.

"Nothing happened! You idiot!"

"You stupid midget!"

Dante's cursing trailed behind as he fell, but before he smashed into the ground, Tabitha, who was reading a book, dully swung her hand, and put a 'Levitation' spell on Dante.

Dante landed gently onto the plains, and saw Guiche, who had fallen before, walking along the road on the grassy plain with an annoyed face.

Then Guiche stopped and addressed Dante in his usual snobbish manner.

"You fell too, right?"

Dante answered in a tired voice.

"I was pushed."

"T-they are not coming back, are they?"

Dante looked up into the sky. In the blue sky, the wind dragon quickly disappeared over the horizon.

"Nope…I don't think so."

"Well, let's walk then. Sigh, it'll take half a day on foot."

'Screw walking, we're riding.' Dante thought.

With a depressed look about him, Guiche started to walk. Dante was not sure why, but felt that the he was more impressed by him.

'He's getting tougher.'

"By the way, you… That, well… There's something I wanted to ask. Please tell me."

Guiche mumbled to Dante as he fiddled with the artificial rose.

"Huh?"

"Did Her Highness... well... have anything to say about me? Is it true, that she'll reward me after the mission, with the letter where the promised secret date is?"

For a moment, Dante felt pity for Guiche. Henrietta hadn't even mentioned the letter "G" from Guiche's name in their conversation.

"Let's go."

Dante, pretending he hadn't heard anything, summons the Sleipnir and takes the youth as a passenger, and drove off.

"Well, is the rumor true?"

"Just shut up, and let me drive."

"Wha-at, y-you, Her Highness, I..."

"I said..." Dante said in a rather threatening tone.

The boy clams up.

Under the warmth of the sun, the two kept on riding towards the Academy of Magic.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Let's see the aftermath...

Fortress of Newcastle, once known as a great stronghold, was now a tragic ruin. Though it withstood the despair, it became a disastrous scene.

The castle walls, having been repeatedly attacked by spells and cannon fire, were turned into a pile of rubble, and most corpses burnt beyond recognition were scattered around.

Though the siege was somewhat short, the rebels - no, because Albion lost its king and his only heir, the rebels 'Reconquista', became the new government in Albion - suffered damage that was impossible to imagine. Three hundred royal army soldiers for two thousand killed rebels. And four thousand wounded. Seeing these casualties, it was hard to understand whether it was a victory.

Because the fortress was located on the very edge of the floating continent, it was possible to attack it only from one direction. Before the 'Reconquista' forces managed to push away the guards, they were repeatedly shot with magic and cannon fire, receiving huge casualties.

However, they won by the force of numbers in the end. Once behind the castle walls the defense was fragile. The king's army mages were left to guard against soldiers. But the mages' numbers were insignificant to the 'Reconquista' soldiers; they were gradually killed and all fell, one by one.

Though the damage dealt to the enemy was great… the price was annihilation of the king's army. Literal annihilation. Because the royalists fought up to the last soldier.

On one particular note, though the leaders of Reconquista may try to say otherwise, whispers among the 'Reconquista' soldiers say that Prince Wales fought the hardest amongst them all, He was the first to fight the usurpers, and he was unbelievably the last to be killed among the 300 mage knights.

He fought to the point that many of the enemy soldiers thought that they were facing an Ancient Dragon.

When he was the last one standing amongst his comrades, Prince Wales had a long standoff with the horde of rebels, waiting for them to come at him as he stood there during the lull in battle, sword on one hand, wand on the other, steadily gazed like a watchful hawk at the scores of enemies while sporting a feral grin, challenging, daring anyone of them to come at the Prince.

He was said to have died as he had fought, standing on his own two feet. And the enemies never knew that he was already dead until ten hours later.

For generations to come, the feat of Prince Wales of Tudor became a shining example of manliness to those who wish to follow his example of beauty, nobility, honor, courage, and balls out badasstitude.

In a word, the final decisive battle of the civil war in Albion, siege of Newcastle's fortress, fighting against 100 times or larger opponent, in a battle with damage that was worth ten such armies… became a legend.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

"This is so Thermopylae. Without the overly muscled, bearded guys, who fought wearing nothing but underwear and capes. I gotta hand it to them; they still got the job done." Dante comments as he read the latest news from Albion, while he reclines on top of Louise's veranda wall.

"Why on Halkeginia would people fight in battle with just their underclothing? Are they crazy?" Derflinger asked after wriggling out of its sheath.

"I suppose they did it to prove how badass they are, who knows? I mean, back in the day, there's also this one guy who fought a monster barehanded and buck naked, and won."

"And I thought you're crazy." Derf said,

Silence

The devil hunter stares at the distance, as the twin moon travelled across the night sky. He reflects on the events surrounding the Albionian takeover, Wardes turning out to be a devil... or is he? What exactly happened to the noble's mother? And finally, that there is no mention of the assassin in blue, Cobalt, during the coup.

"I guess there are a lot of mysteries in this world than I realized." Dante said to Derflinger,

And for once the sword held its tongue, having nothing else to say.

"Umm, Dante,"

It was Louise, she approached the devil hunter somewhat hesitantly, looking at him intently. She was gripping Wardes' locket.

"I suppose you want answers," Dante said, looking a little more serious than usual.

Louise wordlessly nods.

"Are you sure?"

Louise looks up and gazed upon the eyes of the devil hunter.

"Yes."

Dante sighed, 'this is gonna be a long night.'

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

Louise just stood there, resolute.

Dante just smirks, 'Seems she has become braver, after we got back from Albion."

Dante, who hated long introductions, "Brace yourself at what you're about to see. Whatever we will discuss here should not leave this room, until I say it's alright."

"I swear to the Founder."

"Good,"

Dante steps back from Louise to the center of the room, he takes a deep breath.

Suddenly, a bright red light engulfs the devil hunter.

Louise shields her eyes with her arms, and waited for the light to dissipate.

When the light did disappear, Louise swallowed hard as she was suddenly assaulted by a presence unlike she ever felt before.

It exerted a greater pressure than she felt before; this is something that makes most warriors cower in fear, forcing her to fall down on her knees. She struggled to breathe as she tries her outmost best to look at her summoned being.

"I was kind of expecting that you'd faint instantly from this form's mere presence, looks like you've grown a lot tougher than you look." Dante's voice rang through her head, only it sounded distorted, more alien.

Louise looks up towards Dante, and almost screamed at what she saw.

"D-dante?" Louise squeaked, as her eyes widened at the sight.

Towering over her, a pair of glowing eyes can be seen.

That was the last thing she saw before, she lost consciousness.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Author's note:

Seriously? What the heck does this all mean?

Sorry for cheapening the battle, but it still seemed inappropriate for a full on DT at the time.

I suppose some of you might guess who the hell the cloaked fellow is.

PM me on it, if you wish...

Please review...

As for the grammatical errors, thanks for mentioning them, but please, pm me and point them out so it can be fixed as per your corrections...

As this is my first patchwork story published to on-line readers.

As I observed, the great authors of my favourite stories tend to have grammatical errors as well, but never took my enjoyment in reading their tales.

I suggest reading between the lines; you may never know what might pop up.

I Love As. : D

'till next time.

Coming up next, a boring revelation, and time for a Siesta... : )

Thank you for the continued patronage.


	14. Mission 14 :Revelation, Machines,& Baths

Now for something boring...

Let's begin…

Mission 14 : Revelation, Machines and Baths

Excerpts from a page of a certain Tristanian Castle Guard Commander…

'I swear by the Founder's name, that I saw a black haired boy in strange clothes with a sword, with the princess' "guests" on the dragon before the Valliere human familiar in red showed himself. But afterwards, I never saw the boy again. I have just noticed this as I review the events for the day for my daily log. As I discreetly questioned my subordinates, they say they have never seen the boy I described to them. So I ask myself, am I getting too old for this job?'

／人◕ .◕人＼

Fantasy pic : Siesta, wearing DMC4 Kyrie's costume, as she sings on a stage in front of the cheering masses of fans.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Louise tried to fight back to the waking state… and sees…

She is now looking at a creature not so different from what she saw Dante fighting against in her dreams.

A being he called a Devil.

In the center of the room where Dante should be, stood what appeared to be a towering silhouette of red reptilian spiny-skinned humanoid, still too fuzzy to her to get the exact details, due to his pressuring presence that could easily elicit terror to those who behold this form. Yet, for some reason, Louise isn't scared of it at all. Well, not much.

It is as if, Louise is facing her mother's stern presence, only much, much stronger.

Meet Dante's Devil Trigger.

"D-dante?" She managed to squeak out.

"Yup, it's me." Dante admitted.

"W-what exactly are you?"

Dante then does his characteristic shrug, before he dismissed his DT.

In a flash, Dante resumes his human form.

Louise felt the atmosphere revert back to normal as Dante deactivated his DT.

Dante leads Louise to her bed, who now managed to recover.

"To be honest, I have no idea what to call myself, you could go ask God." The devil hunter said

Dante smiled wearily at the lame joke he just made.

"So to sum it up, I'm what you call a hybrid, of a human and a devil."

Louise had heard of devils before her actual encounter with a real one, courtesy of Wardes. These stories are passed only to select Noble families. They were said to be extremely powerful and dangerous creatures of legend, much stronger than the elves themselves.

And they were said to be extinct.

Louise turned pale at the implications. She thought that the devils only existed in myth. Just a series of bedtime stories her parents made up to scare off her and her elder sisters when they were young, as peasants and commoners working in their estate have no knowledge of such things. And as she came to the Academy to study, the stories of such creatures are not even mentioned in general public.

Oh how wrong she was…

Then she remembered something else.

Sparda.

The the Legendary Dark Knight, the hero who aided Brimir and the familiars to free Halkeginia from the enemy, who commanded the devils. Though a devil himself, Sparda fought in humanity's behalf.

Then she remembered, her dream of the man staring at the moon, someone who looked just like Dante. Did she dream of Sparda?

Why?

The assassin in blue's words then came back to her,

"…I can't wait to see you again, Son of Sparda."

She finally pieced together who Dante actually is…

／人◕ .◕人＼

After handing her a glass of water and an extra large helping of Strawberry Sundae, Dante begins to spin his tale.

I'll just forego this in a summary:

He tells about the plan of the subjugation of mankind to the hands of a devil king. A certain high ranking devil knight, who woke up to justice, and took up his sword to fight for the sake of human kind.

How that knight managed to even surpass the limits of his brethren, those who considered themselves as devils of absolute power. And as such, finally defeating them and ultimately sealing them away, at the price of a large bulk of his original power.

The peaceful time when his father ruled quietly in the human world.

The time when he met his future bride.

A human woman, Eva, an Umbra Witch which he met when he was travelling the world. Who, also happened to be one of the strongest humans he had ever seen, both in body and spirit.

As the two journeyed, fought and God knows what else they did, they fell in love, got married, and begot twin sons, Vergil, the elder twin and the younger one, Dante himself.

Dante ends his tale with that.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Louise' conclusion was correct.

Dante is Sparda's son from the world he arrived from.

No wonder that the man's expression she saw in her dream looked so sad. He must have missed his family so much. Having a family herself, she could relate.

Louise felt in her heart that there are more things than what he just told her. But seeing the usually quirky Dante a bit melancholic than usual, she has to be satisfied with this for now.

Monster he may be likened to, but she knows that he has a heart of a human.

She then shifts the subject.

Squirming a bit, Louise asked Dante, "Your world … there aren't any mages there right?"

"Nope. Not the likes of you guys anyway."

"There's only one moon?"

"Yup, only one."

"That's weird."

"No it's not; it's this world that's weird, in many ways."

'But not as bad as hell.' Dante added in his mind.

"What were you doing in that world?"

"Like I told you before, I make my living as an odd jobs man."

"Odd jobs man?"

"Well it's not much different from being a mercenary here I guess. Doing requested stuff here and there. Well, as long as they have the password."

"I See, but may I ask what the password was?"

"Trust me, you don't wanna know."

Louise thought, 'Could it be?'

"I don't really understand… ?"

Louise remained silent for a while. Then she spoke in a serious tone, "You know, I want to become a great mage. I don't mean a very powerful mage. I just want to be able to cast spells properly. Thanks to you I managed to find it,"

Dante remembered the class they had much earlier. That day the first time he saw Louise fail.

"Since I was small, I was told I was hopeless. My father and mother didn't expect anything of me. I was always treated like an idiot, always called Zero … I really don't have any skill. There isn't a branch of magic that I'm good at. I'm even clumsy at reciting incantations. I understand it. My teachers, mother and sisters have said it. When you recite an incantation for a spell in your branch of magic, something within your body responds and it circulates within your body. When that rhythm is at a climax, it means that the spell is completed. I have never felt that before, until you showed it to me."

Louise became silent once more.

Some time passed before Dante began to speak.

"You know, even if you can or can't use magic … you're you. Just be you… you're cute. And you've changed to something better recently as well. You have your own qualities. Even if you can't use magic, you're a great person…"

Ending his incoherent reply, Dante turned towards Louise. She had already fallen asleep. Her innocent face took his breath away. It seemed she had drifted off while Dante was thinking of his reply. Her pinkish blond hair mixed with the moonlight, shining brightly. Steady breathing could be heard from her small pink lips.

So cute.

'I'm not your relation in any way… but I will protect you like my own kid. So don't worry Louise.'

Smiling warmly at Louise, Dante fixes her bedcovers and leaves Louise in her bed.

With Louise's breathing as a lullaby, Dante fell asleep on the couch.

Louise was just pretending to sleep.

She wanted to return the favour to Dante, who had been so kind and had saved her so many times… But that wasn't the only thing. It was the first time she had felt these feelings for someone besides her immediate family and she didn't know what to do. Someone that can relate to her, accept her for who she is, and someone who she can be herself when around.

Scared of him and but more cared for his welfare, she wonders how she could be of help to the displaced half-devil. She promised herself to help Dante ease whatever burden he may be bearing, if there is one. He might be telling it sometime later, and she will be there to listen to him.

'I wonder what Dante thinks of me? An unpleasant girl? A selfish and mean master? Or perhaps he likes me? '

No matter what, she decided to remain with her summoned being's side...

She then truly fell asleep occupied wit these thoughts.

If she only knew, he sees her in all various shades, but still likes her anyway.

Much like a father to his daughter.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Two days after the civil war had ended, under the blazing sun, between the corpses and pebbles, a figure was inspecting the old battlefield. His hood was pushed front that his features cannot be seen, and he was dressed in an unusual way for Albion, the a deep blue cloak that fluttered madly in the breeze.

This is Cobalt, an assassin.

He had been to different battlefields in his time, no matter where he went; there is always something in common with them all.

Death.

Violence.

Blood.

He never liked the way these Reconquista handled the take over of Abion.

It was too messy for his style.

But as per his master's orders, he has no choice but to cooperate.

Around him, soldiers of 'Reconquista' were diligently hunting for riches. A loud cheer came from the treasury nearby, as a band had found golden coins.

A mercenary with a pike on his shoulder was turning corpses over, then pushing them into a pile near rubbish as a decoration for the garden. When he found a magic wand he cried out from joy.

Cobalt, who was watching the scene disapprovingly, clicked his tongue in disgust.

"In the end, this 'battle for freedom' is just another sacking." He said to no one in particular, as his sword arm begins the itch for another killing.

He needs to kill something and fast.

From the distance a person appeared while he looked for a suitable target to torment and kill.

He said in a cheerful, limpid voice.

"Master Cobalt! Have you found the letter yet? That… what was it... ah, love letter that Henrietta gave to Wales, the saviour that would prevent the union of Germania and Tristain. Have you found it?"

Shaking his head, Cobalt answered the man who had just appeared.

The man was in the middle of his thirties. He was wearing a round hat and a green mantle. From the first sight one could tell that he was a clergyman. However he also slightly resembled a soldier with his long aquiline nose and intelligent blue eyes. From the edges of his hat, curly blond hair peeked out.

"Your Excellency, it seems the letter slipped through this hole. It is my mistake. I am deeply regretful for my error. Please, hand me whatever punishment you deem necessary."

Cobalt kneeled down, bowing his head.

The man called 'Excellency', with a friendly smile on his face, approached the assassin and tapped his shoulder.

"What are you saying? Master Cobalt! You did a remarkable job! You single-handedly defeated the enemy's brave general! Ah, isn't that over there, our dear Crown Prince Wales? " Indicating the corpse carried by the soldiers.

"Be proud! You defeated him! Apparently he loathed me deeply… but seeing him like that, I feel a strange sort of kinship to him. Aah, that's right. Once dead, everyone becomes a friend."

Cobalt's arm slightly twitched, as he noticed the sarcasm at the end of the speech. He quickly regained his composure, and once again repeated his apology to his temporary superior officer.

"However, the M'selleion to obtain the letter of Henrietta's Your Excellency so desires ended in failure. I'm sorry I was not able to meet Your Excellency's expectations."

"Do not fret yourself. Compared to obstructing the alliance, killing Wales was by far more important. A dream is something that has to be obtained steadily, step-by-step."

Seriously, Cobalt want nothing more than to run this arrogant, self absorbed asshole with the largest blade Deinsleif could produce, stabbing the man through his posterior.

Many times over.

"Ah, yes, where are my manners, allow me to reintroduce myself."

Opening his eyes widely, and placing his hand over his chest...

"'Reconquista' first general, Oliver Cromwell at your service. You see, originally, I was just a mere bishop. However, due to the votes of the baronial council, I was appointed to be the first general, and I need to give my best. Though I am a clergyman who serves Founder Brimir, it is all right to 'guide' us through the dark times, right? If necessary, using faith and power for the better."

"Your Excellency, you are not a freelance first general anymore, you are now Albion's…"

"Emperor, Master Cobalt."

Cromwell laughed. However, his eyes didn't change.

"Certainly, I really wished to prevent Tristain's and Germania's alliance, however, there are more important things. Do you understand me, Master Cobalt?"

"Your Excellency's thoughts are so deep, that an ordinary man like me cannot measure them."

Cromwell opened his eyes wide. Then, he raised both hands and began talking with exaggerated gestures.

"Unity! Unity of steel! Halkeginia is us, an union of chosen nobles, that will get back the Holy Land from those ominous elves! It is a M'selleion given to us by Founder Brimir! 'Unity' is our number one duty. Therefore, Cobalt Sir, I trust you. There is no blame in such a trifle failure."

Cobalt bowed deeply, but in his thoughts ran a dozen ways to give this man the most painful tortures he could give.

"For this great Mission, Founder Brimir blessed us with the power."

Cobalt smirks. He knows exactly what kind of power the man is talking about.

Just to humor the man, he asks

"Your Excellency, what power has Founder Brimir granted Your Excellency with? If it is all right, I would like to know."

Cromwell continued in a slurred tone, caught up in his own theatrics.

"Do you know about the four great elements of magic, Master Cobalt?"

He nodded. Even children know of such things. "Fire, Wind, Water, and fourth – Earth."

"In addition to the four great elements, there is another magical element. The element that Founder Brimir used, element of zero. Really, it was the first element of all things."

"Element of zero… Void?"

Cobalt continued to play along.

The lost element. The magic of nothingness, that, as dark legends tell, disappeared. It seemed this man know something about the element of zero.

"That is the power that Founder Brimir granted me with. For this reason, the Baronial Council agreed to make me the emperor of Halkeginia."

Cromwell pointed at Wales' corpse.

"Wardes. I had wanted to make Crown Prince Wales my friend and ally. Instead, he became my greatest enemy in life, but now in death, would make a great ally. Do you see anything wrong with that?"

The assassin shook his head.

"He should have never resisted Your Excellency's decisions."

Cromwell laughed with a smile.

"Well then, Master Cobalt. I will show an element of 'Void' to you."

The cloaked man watched Cromwell's movements, actually uninterested. Fortunately, due to the low pulled hood, Cromwell never noticed.

Cromwell pulled out the cane that was attached to his waist.

A low, silent aria escaped Cromwell's mouth. These were words no mere mortal ever heard before.

When the aria was completed, Cromwell gently lowered the cane and aimed at Wales' corpse.

A large, dark red magic circle appears where the corpse lay. A dark blue fin of a creature can be seen swimming within the eldritch magical circle, and slowly fuses with the corpse that was Wales.

Then… suddenly, Wales, whose body was already cold, opened his eyes. A chill ran down the spine of the normal humans who saw this event.

There were none.

Cobalt's expression is hidden by the hood, though he appeared to be calm through the proceedings.

Wales slowly sat up. A once bloodless face suddenly sprang back to the life it previously held. Like a withered flower absorbing water, Wales's body sprang back to life.

"Good morning, Crown Prince."

Cromwell muttered.

The revived Wales returned Cromwell's smile.

"It has been a long time, Archbishop."

"So rude, I am an emperor now, my dear Crown Prince."

"Is that so? I apologize for that, Your Excellency."

Wales kneeled taking the posture of a vassal.

"I think I'll make you my personal bodyguard, Wales."

"With pleasure."

"Then, let's be friends."

Cromwell began to walk. Wales, who didn't look like he was just dead, walked behind him. Then Cromwell, as if remembering something, halted and turned around saying:

"Master Cobalt, do not worry. Even if the alliance is formed, it is of no matter. In any case, Tristain is helpless. There is no change in plans."

The assassin bowed.

"There are two ways of diplomacy - the cane and the bread. Let's give warm bread to Tristain and Germania for the time being."

"As you wish."

"Tristain is a necessary area to add. That royal family has the Founder's Prayer Book. I need to have it in my hands in order to retrieve the Holy Land."

After saying this and nodding approvingly, Cromwell left.

Cobalt thought 'You think that power of yours was a blessing by Brimierre, but in truth, it is my master's power he let you wield.'

"However…many lives were given for the Founder's Holy Land…and if they all would be revived by the element of 'Void'… that would cheapen the sacrifices that they gave to the cause ." He spat.

But then again, the those who were revived under that said 'element' are nothing more than puppets to the one who holds the power.

'However, I myself also want to know. Is this life a mere fantasy? Or reality? Why am I still alive?...'

Cobalt holds up a heavily bandaged hand to his face,

Whose thoughts are these, Cobalt wonders, as he himself has no idea who he really is.

But for now his master's orders are top priority.

He then disappeared in a flurry of smoke.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Three days after Dante and company had returned to the Academy of Magic, the marriage between Tristainian princess Henrietta and Germanian emperor Albrecht III was officially announced. The ceremony would take place the following month, before the conclusion of the military alliance.

The alliance conclusion would be done in Germania's capital Vindobon, where the agreement sentence was to be signed by the prime minister Cardinal Mazarin of Tristain.

The day after the alliance, a new Albion's government was officially established. In an instant, tensions sparkled between the two countries, but the Kingdom of Albion's First Emperor Cromwell sent a special envoy to Tristain and Germania at once, in order to sign a nonaggression pact.

As a result, both countries had a conference. Even with the two countries' combined power in the air, they could not oppose Albion's fleet. Though the non-aggression pact felt more like a dagger pointed to the neck, the two countries didn't have much to choose from, and this offer was the best they could hope for.

However…peace was established in Halkeginia only on the surface. Politicians could not sleep day or night. It wasn't only nobles, the commoners too waited for next day tensely.

Tristain's Academy of Magic was no exception either.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Tristain Magical Academy…

M'sieu Colbert had entered the classroom, the students hushed. Class has started.

"Well, everyone," M'sieu Colbert patted his bald head slightly.

Until yesterday, he had been frightened of how Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt broke out of prison, suspecting a traitor in the castle. He also thought that it was a serious affair for Tristain.

This morning however, Osman summoned him, telling him that it was "alright already" and he returned to his normal self. Besides, things like politics did not interest him much.

What he did have interest in was knowledge, history and … research. That's why he liked lessons. He could freely state the results of his research. And so, on a joyful note, he showed the class something strange placed on the desk.

"M'sieu Colbert, what's that?" one student asked.

It really was a strange looking thing. It was a long metallic tube with a metallic pipe stretching out of it. Pair of bellows connected to the pipe and a crank was attached to the head of the cylinder. The crank was connected to a wheel on the side of the cylinder. Finally, there were gears attached to the wheel and the box.

Staring at the equipment, the students were all wondering what sort of lesson would follow. Clearing his throat, he began his lesson, "Firstly, who can tell me the main characteristics of the fire branch of magic"

The class turned to Kirche. If you were talking about the fire branch of magic in Halkeginia, then you would be referring to Germanian nobles. Among them, the Zerbsts were a famous family. Also, as her nickname, Ardent, indicated, she was good at fire magic.

Even though class had started, Kirche still continued to polish her nails. Without taking her eyes off the nail file, she replied languidly, "Passion and destruction."

"That's right!" said M'sieu Colbert, himself a triangular fire mage whose nickname was 'Flame Serpent'.

Why a gentle person such as Colbert was bestowed such a title, no one in class knows…

"However, besides passion, only being able to destroy is a bit lonely I think. It depends on the usage, everyone. Depending on how you use it, you can actually do some really fun things. It's not only for destruction, M'selle Zerbst. A battle is not the only time you will see fire."

"There's no use in trying to tell Tristain nobles about fire magic," Kirche said, filled with confidence. M'sieu Colbert was not agitated by her disagreement, but smiled instead.

"But, what's that strange thing you have there?" Kirche asked with a blank look, pointing at the equipment on the desk.

"Hehe. So you finally asked. This is something I invented. It works using oil and fire magic." The students gaped, staring at the mechanism intently. The mechanism seemed somewhat familiar to Dante, as if he had seen it somewhere before. Being a curious person, he too remained silent and watched intently.

M'sieu Colbert continued, "First we vaporize the oil in the bellows." He stepped repeatedly on the bellows with his foot. "And then, the vaporized oil will go into this cylindrical tube."

With a cautious look, Colbert stuck his wand inside a small hole he had opened. He recited an incantation. The sound of a blazing fire could suddenly be heard, and as the fire ignited the vaporized oil, the sounds changed into that of explosions.

"Watch carefully everyone! Inside the metallic tube, the power from the explosion is moving the piston up and down!"

The crank attached to the top of the cylinder started to move and the wheel along with it. The spinning wheel opened the door on the box. The gears began moving and a snake puppet came out from inside.

"The power is transferred to the crank which spins the wheel! Look! The snake then comes out to greet us! So interesting!"

The students watched it unenthusiastically. The only one interested seemed to be Dante, who usually slept in the entirety of the class.

"And then? What's so special about that?"

M'sieu Colbert was sad at the fact that the invention he took so much pride in had been totally ignored. Clearing his throat, he began to explain, "In this example only a snake showed up, but say for instance this mechanism was placed on a carriage. Then, the carriage could move even without horses! It would work on the side of a boat as well by turning a water wheel. Then there wouldn't be any need for sails!"

"You could just use magic in those cases. There's no need to use such a weird mechanism." After one student said it, the others started to nod in agreement.

"Everybody, listen carefully! If it is improved upon, this could run even without magic! I relied on my fire magic to ignite it, but say flint was used and a way to ignite it every so often was found…" Colbert was obviously getting excited, talking on and on, while the students were all wondering what was so special. The only one who seemed to understand the greatness of his invention seemed to be Dante.

"Nice one, Prof. Colbert! You've just invented an engine!" Dante called up all of a sudden. The whole class turned to him.

"Engine?" M'sieu Colbert looked at Dante with a blank look.

"Yes, an engine. It's used in my world for things just like you said."

"I can tell you're a perceptive person. You're M'selle Vallière's guardian being, yes?"

The fact that he was the legendary Dark Knight 's relation who had Windalfr runes on the back of his hand suddenly came back to M'sieu Colbert. He had forgotten since Osman had said to leave it to him … but due to his enthusiasm he started to hold an interest in Dante.

"Where did you live before?" he asked eagerly forgetting the fact that he needs to keep mum on stuff regarding Dante.

Louise tugged at Dante's parka slightly and glared at him slightly "Don't say anything unnecessary, we'll look suspicious."

Agreeing, Dante sat back down.

Colbert approached Dante with a bright expression. Louise answered for him.

"Mr Colbert, he's uh… from Rub' al Khali in the east.

M'sieu Colbert was taken aback. "What? Past the frightening lands of the elves? Wait, he was summoned wasn't he… so he didn't have to go through those lands… I see. I hear that the lands the elves govern in the east have advanced technology. So you came from there… I see," he nodded in comprehension.

Dante turned to Louise, "What?"

"Just play along," said Louise hoarsely whispered.

Dante just lazily nods.

Colbert nodded again and returned to the mechanism. Standing on the platform once more he looked around the classroom.

"Alright then, who would like to try operating the mechanism? It's very simple! Just open the hole in the cylinder, put your wand in and recite the 'ignite' spell repeatedly. The timing is a bit tricky but once you get used to it, it will be as easy as this," M'sieu Colbert stepped on the bellows with his foot and operated the mechanism once more. The explosive sounds echoed throughout the classroom while the crank and gears moved, followed by the snake showing its face.

"And the joyful snake greets us!"

No one raised their hand. M'sieu Colbert tried to get the students interested in his mechanism, saying "joyful snake", but it didn't quite work. Disappointed, Colbert drooped his shoulders.

Montmorency, suddenly pointed at Louise, "Louise, you try it!"

M'sieu Colbert's face lit up, "M'selle Vallière! You have an interest in the mechanism?"

"Catching Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt and hiding where you were, surely you won't have trouble with something like this right?" Louise realized Montmorency was trying to embarrass her by making her fail.

It seemed Montmorency didn't like Louise getting all the attention, such as accomplishing great feats and being the star at balls. Her jealousy was deep and the fact that she was a show off suddenly came back to Louise.

Montmorency continued provoking Louise, "Hey, do it? Louise. Louise the Zero."

Something in Louise cracked. She just couldn't keep quiet when Montmorency called her Zero. Louise silently stood up and approached the platform.

Seeing Louise in this state, Dante glared at Montmorency, "Hey Monmon."

"It's Montmorency for God's sake!"

"If you think Louise will fail when she tries to cast a spell, you might find yourself wrong." said Dante, looking bored.

The front row students hid behind their chairs.

Seeing the students' reactions, M'sieu Colbert remembered Louise's skill and the origin of her nickname. Trying to desperately change her mind, he began to persuade her in a flustered manner, "Ah, M'selle Vallière. Er, you can do it another time, alright?"

"I have been insulted by Montmorency the Flood," said Louise in a cold voice. Her reddish brown pupils were filled with rage.

"I shall discipline M'selle Montmorency. So, er, could you please withdraw your wand? I do not doubt your skill, but magic doesn't always succeed. I mean, 'a dragon can also die from fire', after all."

Louise looked sharply at Colbert, "Please let me do it. I do not always fail. Occasionally, I succeed."

"There are times when I, occasionally, succeed," said Louise, as though the words were meant for herself, voice shaking. Dante knew there was no stopping Louise now. When Louise was extremely angry, her voice would start to shake.

M'sieu Colbert looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

Louise copied M'sieu Colbert actions and stepped on the bellows. The vaporized oil was sent to the cylinder. She took a deep breath and stuck her wand inside the cylinder.

"M'selle Vallière, uhh …" whispered M'sieu Colbert as if he was praying.

With a voice as clear as a bell, she started to recite the spell incantation.

The whole class froze.

It was not as they expected to be, as Louise confidently stuck her wand inside the hole. She recited the required incantation. The sound of a blazing fire could suddenly be heard, and as the fire ignited the vaporized oil, the sounds changed into that of explosions.

That caught the rest of the student body off guard, as the expected explosion didn't occur

"What the…She didn't make that thing explode!" one male student cried.

True enough; the strange mechanism is actually made working by none other than Louise herself.

The crank attached to the top of the cylinder started to move and the wheel along with it. The spinning wheel opened the door on the box. The gears began moving and a snake puppet came out from inside.

"Oh Thank Founder! And the Joyful Snake appears!" Cobert couldn't help but shout in happiness that his student who was at the bottom of casting class, managed to get the device working. As well as how she managed to not destroy his beloved creation.

He even hugged Louise in joy, "M'selle Valliere, I'm so proud of you!"

The entire class, except Dante, Kirche, were extremely flabbergasted.

Tabitha never saw it; she was still busy reading a book.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Sir Osmond was staring at the book delivered from the palace and absent-mindedly twirling his beard. The cover, wreathed by old leather, was so worn out that it looked like it would tear up from a single touch. The color of the book's pages had a tawny color to them.

Hmm... while muttering, Sir Osmond turned a page. Nothing was written there. There were about three hundred pages in the book and they were all blank.

"This has been handed down through the Tristain royal family, 'The Founder's Prayer Book'…"

Six thousand years ago, Founder Brimir offered a prayer to a God and wrote down the spells, using magical runes as letters.

"This isn't a fake?"

Sir Osmond looked suspiciously at the book. Fakes… that often happens with 'Legendary' things. Apparently, only one 'Founder's Prayer Book' existed in the world. Rich nobles, temple priests, royal families of every country- All of them claimed to have a real 'Founder's Prayer Book'. Whether it was real or not, they were all collected in the library equally as if they were the genuine article.

"But if it is a fake, it's an awful one. All of the characters are gone."

Sir Osmond had seen a 'Founder's Prayer Book' several times before, at different places. The runes always leaped from it and were arranged in one or the other order. However, he never found a book with such characters like this one. Could this one be real?

At that moment he heard the sound of someone knocking. I should hire a secretary thought Sir Osmond as he invited the guest into the room.

"It's not locked. Please, come in."

The door opened and a slender girl stepped in. She had pink-blonde hair and big reddish brown eyes. It was Louise.

"I heard you called for me, so…"

Louise said. Sir Osmond stood up and spread his hands, welcoming the tiny visitor.

And sympathizing again with Louise's pain the other day.

"Oh, M'selle Vallière. Have you rested after the tiresome journey? Your great efforts ensured the alliance's safety and prevented a crisis in Tristain."

Sir Osmond said in a soft voice.

"And, next month in Germania, there will finally be a wedding ceremony held between the princess and Germania's emperor. It is all thanks to you. Be proud of yourself."

After hearing this, Louise became sad for a moment. Her childhood friend Henrietta, as a political tool, will marry Germania's emperor without love. Even though there is no other way for the alliance, when Louise recalled the sad smile on Henrietta's lips, her chest tightened.

Louise silently bowed. Sir Osmond became silent for a while and watched Louise, then remembering the possession of 'Founder's Prayer Book' in his hands, held it out for Louise.

"What's this?"

Louise looked at the book with a suspicious face.

"Founder's Prayer Book."

"Founder's Prayer Book? This?"

It was given to the royal family. A legendary book. But why did Sir Osmond have it?

"In the Tristain's royal family tradition, during a royal family wedding one aristocrat is chosen to take the role of bridesmaid. The selected bridesmaid traditionally is given the 'Founder's Prayer Book', following the imperial edict."

"Uh huh."

Louise, who wasn't aware of palace etiquette in such details, replied absent-mindedly.

"And the princess has chosen M'selle Vallière to be that bridesmaid."

"Princess?"

"That's right. The shrine maiden should come up with the written edict while carrying this 'Founder's Prayer Book'"

"A...ah! I'll have to think about the edict?"

"Indeed. Of course, there are still things in palace etiquette that you need to practice… Traditions can be rather bothersome. However, M'selle Vallière, the princess is looking forward to you. This is a great honor. So follow the palace regulations and written edict, because something like this happens only once in a lifetime."

Henrietta, my childhood friend, chose me to be her bridesmaid. Louise firmly looked up.

"I understand. I will obey respectfully."

Louise received the 'Founder's Prayer Book' from Sir Osmond's hands.

Sir Osmond smiled, looking at Louise.

"You are willing to undertake it. Good, good. The Princess will be pleased."

／人◕ .◕人＼

That evening, Dante was preparing a bath. Certainly, Tristain Magic Academy had a bathhouse. It was a Roman style bathhouse, lined with marble. It had a huge swimming pool, filled with perfume mixed hot water that was said to grant a heavenly feeling, and of course, Dante could not enter there. Only nobles were allowed to use it.

The Academy's bathhouse for commoners, compared to the nobles' bathhouse, was rather shabby. The joint bathhouse for commoners looked like a hovel. Placed on the stones, underneath which fire burns, strong smell of sweat and tightly pressed bodies, only made one sweat more.

One day in that bathhouse was enough to make Dante disgusted. The public sauna was fucking unsatisfying.

Dante, who has lived in better comforts, set up a bath which was a gigantic kettle filled full with hot water.

Bothered, Dante asked Marteau, the head chef and received one big, old kettle. He made a bathtub from it. It was a bathtub heated from beneath with a floating wooden lid which was pushed under the water by the bather. Firewood, burning under the kettle, heated the water.

Dante's bath was arranged at the Vestri Courtyard's nook. It was convenient, as people do not often come to this courtyard. So that's how he was bathing ever since.

Though, whenever he takes a bath, he can't seem to shake off the fact that he's being watched by many eyes.

The day was coming to an end and two moons appeared, shining faintly. Once the water was hot enough, Dante quickly threw his clothes off and sank his feet into the big kettle.

"Aah, nice, hot, water."

As much as he wanted to have a hot shower, this it the best he could do for now.

Until he could find a way how to use that particular ability to reproduce items from the modern world this will have to do.

It's still too risky.

He put a towel on his head and started humming a melody.

Derflinger, who was leaning against the wall of the kettle, called out to Dante:

"Does it feel good?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, legendary sword."

"Indeed I am a legendary sword, what?"

"During these six thousand years, have you found someone important to you to protect?" Derflinger shook lightly.

"I do not protect. It is the one that holds me that protects someone."

"You poor thing…"

Dante said from the bottom of his heart in a sympathetic voice.

"Poor, you say? On the contrary, it is quite comfortable."

"Is that so? By the way, what things do you remember about Sparda? How great was he and what kind of things did he do?" Dante, showing his inborn curiosity, asked Derflinger.

"Forgot."

"Huh."

"It was a long time ago. Besides, partner, someone is coming."

A shadow appeared in the moonlight.

"Who is it?"

Dante's call startled the shadow. It dropped down something that it was carrying with a clatter. Under the moonlight, one could hear a sound of a breaking pot.

"Waaah, it broke… I will be scolded again… sniff"

From that voice, Dante was able to recognize the person who showed up from the darkness.

"Siesta?"

Illuminated by the moonlight, a figure of a housemaid working in Alviss Dining Hall - Siesta - appeared. She had just finished her work and, although she was still wearing her usual maid clothes, the kachusha covering her head was now gone. Her loose shoulder-length black hair shone glossily.

Siesta squatted down to pick up the thing that she dropped earlier.

"W-what are you doing here?"

Dante's call made Siesta turn around.

"Uhmmm... Today I was able to get some really tasty goods and wanted Dante to try it! I would have given it to you in the kitchen, but you didn't come today! Waah!"

Siesta said in panic. Indeed, there was a tray lying next to Siesta, an overturned bottle and some cups. It seemed like Siesta dropped one cup, surprised by the sudden call.

"A treat?"

Dante asked, still submerged in the bath. Suddenly Siesta became aware of Dante's nudity and, for a moment, averted her eyes in shame.

"That's right. Some unusual goods came from the east town 'Rub' al Khali' today. Wine."

"Wine?"

Siesta poured some from a bottle into the cup that was not broken and gave it to Dante.

"Thank you."

Dante lifted it to his lips. The sweet aroma of the wine tickled his nostrils. And when it was in his mouth, it tasted like Japanese sake.

'What the heck. Why does this taste like sake?'

Dante sighed; he wondered how much that world has progressed since he was gone,

"W-what's the matter! Are you alright?"

Seista bent over the edge of the kettle.

"N-no, I just felt nostalgic for a moment. I'm alright. Yeah."

After saying that, Dante brought the cup back to his mouth. The sake and a bath made a strange combination…

"Do you miss it? That's right; Dante-san comes from the east."

Siesta flashed a shy smile.

"I... I probably feel that way. However, did you know that I was often here?"

Dante's words made Siesta blush.

"T-that's, that's. I'm just here because I saw you going this way with hot water and…"

"You peeped?"

Dante's voice saying that was blank. Siesta hastily shook her head.

"N-no, I didn't mean it that way!"

Flustered, Siesta tripped over the edge of the kettle and with a loud splash, fell into the kettle.

"Kyaaaaaaa!"

Siesta screamed, but her shriek was suppressed by the hot water inside the iron kettle.

"Are you alright?"

Dante asked in blank surprise.

"I-I'm alright… Wah, but I am soaked now…"

Siesta stuck her wet head out of the hot water.

The poor girl's housemaid clothes were sodden. And when she became aware of Dante's naked state, a furious blush spread on her face.

Dante sighed,

"Sorry about that, even though the bath is on a stove, it is still possible to fall in."

"N-no, I'm sorry!"

Although she was apologizing, Siesta didn't try to get out of the bath. Dante then decided to let this thing slide for now; it was not big deal she was not getting out. It is rather cold out there.

Though for some reason, Dante thought some idiot out there must have planned this to happen to him.

He appreciated the gesture.

"Hehee"

Siesta laughed still soaking with her maid clothes inside the big kettle. Though it wasn't a laughable situation, she still laughed.

"W-what's wrong?"

Somehow he feels he's being challenged somewhat…

"Nothing, but, it feels good. Is this how you bathe in Dante-san's country?"

'San? Though the conversation may be automatically translated by some divine babelfish, the San suffix is a dead giveaway. Nobody who ever talked to him in this world, adds a –san suffix.'

Feeling relieved, Dante answered.

"Yeah, though most of the time I just take a quick shower over there. And yeah, it is unusual to get in while wearing clothes."

"Ara? Is that so? Yet, if you think about it, that must be true. Well then, I'll take them off."

"Seriously?"

Dante asked Siesta in a deadpan voice.

"Why yes."

Siesta, who is usually hesitant and shy, for some reason became bold. Slightly biting her lips she looked at Dante in a determined way.

'Oi, Oi, its full moon tonight honey.' Dante thought.

Two moons in fact,

"What did you just say?" he asked, just to make sure he heard her right.

"I said, I'll take them off."

"But Siesta? I am a guy…"

Dante stated a fact.

"That's alright. I know that Dante-san is not a person who would hurt me."

Dante nodded sagely, but in his mind however…

"No, no, I won't do such thing…"

"But I also want to use this 'Bath' properly. It is nice."

Dante just nonchalantly looked as Siesta rose from the hot water and started taking off her soaked clothes. Dante turned his eyes away in respect.

"You could stop doing that. I mean…"

However, Dante's 'Stop' sounded weak, betraying his real thoughts.

"B-but I am dripping wet… The Chief would be mad if I return like this to the room. I think I should dry it off on the fire first."

Though looking obedient, Siesta can be really bold once she decides to.

The buttons of the blouse and the hook of the skirt were unfastened in a flash. It felt good taking off wet clothes. All that remained in her person is her ornate pendant.

Siesta took off her housemaid uniform and underwear and left them to dry on the firewood, close to the fire. After that, she stepped into the hot water again. Dante with the corner of his eyes watched the submerging Siesta's legs. He had never seen Siesta's bare legs, as they were always hidden behind the skirt. They were white and healthy. Ah, as much as he wants to turn his face that way, so he would be able to worship her entire body. His gentlemanly side won't let him do so.

"Uwaa! Feels good! Sharing a bath this way, soaking in the hot water really does feel good! Feels like taking a noble's bath. I am so jealous, but I can make it myself, right? Dante you are really smart."

"Well..." Dante uncharacteristically looked away, looking a bit shy at the compliment.

Must be due to the warm bath, or the moons. Or the maniac demon that wants to get a piece of the action…

Dante answered, still turning his face away. It felt as if the hot water suddenly turned hotter. Next to him was a naked girl. In that sort of situation, any other guy would, um, do stuff with the girl.

He would too, as long as the girl is willing. And his other part is ready to go for a strike. But he won't be force the issue, unless she's ready.

Siesta said with a shy smile on her lips. "Please don't be so shy. I'm not shy as well. It is all right to turn this way. Look, my breasts are hidden behind my arms… besides it's so dark that you cannot see through water anyway, so stay calm."

'Shy my ass. No shy girl I ever heard of would do things like this.' Dante thought,

Dante, feeling that this has gone that far, turned around.

Siesta was sitting right before Dante, submerged in the hot water. Because it was dark, you couldn't clearly see the body behind the surface of the water. He was somewhat relieved.

Yet, Dante took a deep breath.

In the darkness, Siesta's wet black hair was fascinatingly glittering.

From a close look one could see that Siesta was actually a very lovely girl. He hadn't noticed until now, but she was different from Louise or Henrietta, she was like the charm of a lovely flower, freely blossoming in the field. Her big dark eyes, friendly nature and tiny nose were charming and pretty.

"Hey, Dante, what kind of place is your country?"

"My country?"

"Yes, please tell me about it."

Siesta innocently bent forward listening. Ah, when bending forward so much one could see, ah, aah… Dante just looks aside. This is one temptation that needs to be savoured later.

"Well! There's only one moon, there are no magicians, that's why they use switches to turn the light off, and they fly in the sky with planes…"

Because Dante was so incoherent, Siesta puffed her cheeks.

"Stop it. One moon, no wizards, are you making fun of me? Don't look down on me just because I'm a village girl."

"I'm not making fun of you."

Dante thought that even if he told her the truth it would only confuse her. After all, the only ones that knew at the moment that Dante was from a different world were Louise, Sir Osmond and possibly Henrietta.

"Well then, tell me the truth."

Siesta looked up into Dante's eyes. Siesta's black hair and dark eyes wistfully reminded Dante of a girl from Japan. Of course, the face was different from a Japanese person. However, a simple, nostalgic feeling of seeing someone that reminded him of his world, still shot through Dante.

"Right… We have different customs and stuff."

Dante started talking about the distant country he lived in and of Japan where he actually think her ancestry came from. Starry eyed Siesta listened attentively to the story.

Though it might feel like a vapid talk, Siesta was eagerly catching every single word. And before one realized it, Dante and Siesta lost any track of time, as the story of the hometown, and two countries were told.

After some time passed, Siesta stood up covering her breasts. Dante hastily turned his eyes away. However, for one moment, he still saw Siesta's breasts through a gap of her arms, and felt his 'bastard sword' move. Without a word, Dante gently looks away, while Siesta put on her now dry clothes and bowed her head thanking Dante.

"Thank you. It was very fun. This bath was great, and Dante-san's story was amazing as well."

Siesta said gladly.

"Can I hear it again sometime?"

"Yeah."

Dante nodded.

After that, Siesta cast her eyes down with a blush, and shyly fiddled her fingers.

"Well, err? The talk and the bath were great, but you were the most amazing…"

"Siesta?"

"Could you…"

Siesta ran away in tiny steps.

Such thing happening with this girl from a foreign world for Dante, was something new, usually the girls who lined up to him before just quickly jumped to his bone. So he dozed off, snuggled in the big iron kettle.

As much as he wanted to take her then and there, he still has ethics about dealing with these things.

／人◕ .◕人＼

All of the sudden, Dante found himself standing in the midst of dark space.

Last time he remembered, he was dozing at the tub,

"Hey, hey, don't tell me I died of drowning in the tub." He said jokingly,

"Fear not, Son of Sparda, You have not passed on yet." A woman's voice said from behind him. It could only be described as a voice of a goddess, kind, gentle, benevolent but possessed strength and authority, ordering anyone who hears it to listen.

Dante turns around to see that the speaker is a veiled woman, with only her smiling lips exposed, shining brightly in this space devoid of light. Dante had to look down so as not to be temporarily blinded by the radiance.

"Okay, so what's up lady?" Dante smiled disarmingly.

The veiled lady gives a small giggle, like tinkling of crystals.

"You are his son alright." The radiant woman said,

"Without further ado, I must warn you that the people of the 'false light' have begun their move."

Dante nods in understanding.

He knew of the organization pulling the Reconquista strings, based on his last interview with Old Osmond and his private research regarding the inter-dimensional travel thing. They refer to themselves as the 'Enlightened'.

"Yeah, I noticed. But what does this have to do with me?"

"As you might have noticed before, there is something off with your being here. Ever since your father arrived in this world and fought the ancient enemy thousands of years ago, fate has changed so much as what it should have been. The reality has been trying to rectify this as we speak, though the end result became more…convulted. As such, there are some people who might see you as someone else. That person is the one who should have been summoned instead of you. She has been dreaming of that person's existence as well."

"Who should have been in my stead then?"

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say. I'll only say this; fate has rectified the error. However, I'm not sure how this will end up."

Dante, knowing the limits of what powers that be can say, then said

"I'm sure everything will be fine." Dante assures the veiled woman

"And I suppose you have a mission for me, right?" he continued.

The veiled woman smiled, "As expected of the son of Sparda, very perceptive. Yes, I do have one. Just protect Louise for now. Everything else will become clear to you in time. I have already sent someone to aid you, just in case. Until then…goodluck."

The veiled woman then turns to walk away before Dante called her,

"Umm… Miss, next time you call for me,"

"Yes?" the veiled woman turns back to face the devil hunter,

"Could you please let me know you're calling, so I could at least put some clothes on?"

Indeed as the Dante was pulled into this space while bathing in his tub, so it is obvious that he is currently standing in his birthday suit in front of a shapely, veiled but possibly beautiful woman.

The veiled woman gives a smile that Dante could only be described as 'naughty'.

"I could do that. But for now, take it as a payback to what your father did to me. Besides, you have nothing to be shameful about your body."

"Why should I take the heat of what my father did?"

Only a light giggle answered him…

Dante couldn't help but wonder what could possibly his father did, for him to earn this treatment.

He could also feel that this woman is checking out his monster of an 'equipment'.

He could almost swear that a trickle of drool is on the veiled woman's lips.

The next thing he knew, he was back in his bathtub.

／人◕ .◕人＼

After the bath, he returned to Louise's room and found Louise doing something on the bed. Once she saw Dante, she hid a book in panic. It was an old, big book.

Why? Though, he didn't worry so much about it as she was Louise. He might not had understood even if being told about it. Besides Dante's head was filled what the events surrounding the veiled woman's statement, along with the sight of Siesta's body. What he saw through the gap of her hands, was firmly imprinted in Dante's mind.

Some gentleman he is…

Dante approached the laundry basket, while shaking off the worldly thoughts. He decided to deliver Louise's laundry to have them washed.

However, the basket was empty.

"Louise, where's the laundry?"

When Dante asked, Louise shook her head.

"Washed already."

"You washed…"

And then Dante saw Louise. "Huh!" He was shocked. Louise was wearing his red coat that he planned to wear later and left in the room before going to take a bath. When Dante goes to a public bath, he always takes off that red coat and goes only in his black T-shirt or sometimes in his towel, because his body feels too hot right after stepping out of the bath.

Louise was probably wearing it right over her underwear. Because the sleeves were too long and waist was too long and loose, it made it look like some weird gown or dress.

"You, why are you wearing my best suit?"

Hearing Dante, Louise buried her mouth behind his red coat. Louise, whose cheeks blushed for some reason, said.

"Because…after doing the laundry, I had nothing left to wear."

"Nonsense! It's full!"

Dante pointed to the closet. There were a lot of Louise's clothes. Because Louise was a noble, she had many expensive dresses to choose from.

"Still, I wanted to try something else on."

Louise, sitting straight on the bed, said in a sulky tone.

"Couldn't you wear these casual clothes?"

Dante indicated a plain dress in the closet hanger.

"I don't want to wear something like that!"

"You're acting weird, take them off."

However, Louise didn't try to take it off. On the contrary, she rolled sheets around her fingers.

Dante thew his hands up as he said, "Just do what you want."

Furthermore, Louise even washed her own clothes rather than having Dante to take them to be washed by the maids. It was impossible. Dante became worried somehow. Up 'till now, such actions were unimaginable for Louise.

Her cheeks were red, so concerned Dante decided to check if she wasn't ill and had any fever.

Louise got startled when Dante approached her. She trembled, and… turned away.

Trying not to think how she must hate this, Dante grabbed Louise's shoulders and brought his forehead close to her. Louise's body stiffened but she didn't fight and quietly closed her eyes.

Just as I thought, her body condition must be really bad, Dante thought.

"It seems you have a fever."

When Dante pulled his forehead away from hers, Louise for some reason clenched her fist in tightly.

"What is it?" he asked, as Louise turned away from him and after some quiet rustling snuggled under the covers.

"Hey," Dante poked.

"Sleep," Louise answered and became silent again.

Wow, the fever must have eased up, Dante thought as he lumbered into his couch.

It was quiet for a moment and then a pillow flew at him.

"What the…?"

"Bring back the pillow I just threw. Didn't I tell you to sleep in bed from now on?"

Louise's sulky voice was heard.

Lately, Louise has been insisting that the devil hunter sleep with her on the bed.

'She's still probably having nightmares of the event.' Dante reflected, recalling that time in Albion.

But still.

He just couldn't understand Louise's mood, whether it was gentle or saucy as usual.

Dante sighs, as he slipped into Louise's bed.

Though Louise was stirring restlessly in her bed, she soon quieted down.

Now he could think about how the day passed. Anyway, now his head was filled with Siesta. Siesta's parting words were repeated in his head again.

Siesta certainly said "The most amazing was you…".

Was it a confession?

Based on his experience. Yeah, it is.

Aah, Siesta was cute. Although Henrietta was beautiful as well, and so is Kirche. But Siesta had also a different charm…

Naive, simple, but honest. Unlike Kirche, she looked so wonderful when taking her clothes off.

What the fuck is he thinking?

Besides the encounter with Siesta, he is currently worrying that the Albion coup-de-tat is the handiwork of the said group under the 'false light'.

For something that he hadn't considered so much until that moment, the impact was huge. Fascinated by the girl, Dante started to think of the ways to help solve the mystery of this world, just to keep from thinking of... worldly thoughts.

Dante falls into a deep slumber.

Outside Louise's room window Tabitha's Sylphid was floating. On top of which, as usual, Kirche's and Tabitha's figures were sitting. Tabitha was reading a book in the moonlight. Kirche was staring into Louise's room from the crevice of the window.

Kirche snorted.

"After all, it is not looking good."

She remembered the blush on Louise's face as she cuddled with Dante on the back of the dragon, returning from Albion. Louise seemed to be not her usual self.

Ah, sometimes, too much love could blind them to the reality.

"Really, he doesn't treat me seriously? Every time I approach him, I get rejected, it makes me worried against my will."

To be honest, most of those times they are together, trouble seemed to take Dante's notice more than her hot body.

Until now, there was no man who would refuse courting her. It was Kirche's pride. Truly, Kirche felt forgotten like an inconvenient thing.

But then again, It was Kirche who courted the devil hunter, he didn't refuse her advances either.

Kirche was irritated. A little while ago, he even bathed with a commoner's daughter. She was ignored and two-timed. Kirche's pride was shaken. She was defeated by Louise, she was defeated by a commoner girl, this made her name of "Ardent" cry. She had to plunder Dante from Louise, by any means possible. Snatching away La Valliere's lovers and stuff was an old Zerbst tradition.

But truth be told, Dante didn't even consider himself as Louise's lover.

"Yes, though plotting isn't my specialty, I can still think of some strategy. Right, Tabitha?"

Tabitha shut a book, and pointed at Kirche.

"Jealousy."

Kirche blushed. And then she shook her head at Tabitha's words.

"D-don't say that! I'm not jealous! I cannot feel jealousy! Game! This is just a game of love!"

Nevertheless Tabitha was not convinced. She repeated the same word again.

"Jealousy."

／人◕ .◕人＼

Author's comment:

I wonder who will first receive Dante's "blessing"?

Or whether will I continue to tease?

Will he go to that place of no return?

Earn an H-something perhaps,

Do you guys want to take this to level M?

Hell, let's get it on...

Please pm for corrections/suggestions if you wish.

A couple of fun fillers will follow, fun for me anyway... maybe… before shit begins to hit the fan anew.


	15. Mission 15: Pizzas, Monsters and Maid

As I quote Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I'm Back!"

I need a new job!

Nothing else to say but;

enjoy if you do,

leave if you don't.

Let's begin:

Mission 15: Pizza, Monsters and Maids in Trouble

／人◕ .◕人＼

Excerpts from an old journal of a mage knight:

"After the enemy's defeat, we took measures to insure that this will never happen again… I just hope this will be enough to stave...it."

／人◕ .◕人＼

Fantasy pic: Siesta is straddling someone off picture, possibly Dante. She's looking shy since she is currently wearing a bikini made of white icing, with the camera capturing the image is from 'Dante's' POV.

(Yum!)

／人◕ .◕人＼

In a deep, dark, stone-walled dungeon,

The silence in the dark is betrayed by the sound of squelching, slurping, and slithering.

Accompanied by an incorrigible gurgling that is simply too familiar for those who could hear.

Simply too human to be ignored.

A gurgling which cries for help.

But the effort found none, as all of the pleas fall on deaf bricks and mortar…

The obviously useless cry was stifled, choked, as though the mouth of the crier was stuffed full by something slimy…

A loud CRUNCH…

A dying whimper…

And then, a brief silence, only to be interrupted by slow, methodical chewing, crunching and…

A very loud gulp.

Then came a sound that seems to convey of something large crawling, slithering in the dark…

And finally, true silence… as if nothing ever happened in that dark place.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Tristain Magical Academy.

A middle-aged man stands before the Old Osmond sitting on the desk as the Old professor writes a letter.

He wears a red cape, frilled collar, blue coat, and the usual Victorian pants, long white socks and a stylish shoes, a typical noble.

(More like a pimp in modern standards.)

Smoothing his meticulously combed brown hair, ridiculously curled sideburns and eyebrows, he is obviously impatiently waiting for the Academy Head to finish the letter.

Meet Count Mott, a noble and the royal messenger of Tristain, who arrived with messages from the Royal Palace, and one of them regarding the coming wedding of the princess,

Osmond finishes the reply letter, magically rolls it and levitated towards the now smirking Noble.

"Humph. I'm grateful that the academy understands." He said,

"Well, it is a request from the Palace, there's no reason to say otherwise..." the Academy Head replied,

"Then, I will take my leave."

Mott turns around to leave.

As Osmond heard, every time the Count comes here, he tries hitting on the young teachers of the academy.

The head is disgusted with the way this man carries himself and the way he approaches the opposite sex.

Who the heck could someone turn a normal greeting to a perverted proposition?

The fact that Old Osmond is a lecher himself, that says a lot.

／人◕ .◕人＼

As Mott passes by a corridor, he sees a white haired young man clad in strangely designed crimson coat.

He accompanies a young, pink- haired girl whom he recognized as the daughter of Duke de la Valliere.

She appears to be arguing with the man in red who looks obviously not a noble of any kind, talking to him as if the man was equal to her status.

The man notices the noble and turns to look at him.

A chill ran down his spine as the crimson-clad man's gaze scanned him.

His instincts tell him, that his man is something more than just a mere commoner, and that he is dangerous.

Mott quickly tries to recover from his moment of weakness as gave a façade of stoic, dismissive air, and passes by the conversing pair.

／人◕ .◕人＼

In Dante's point of view…

As the Noble turns his back on the two…

The devil hunter couldn't get a finger on it but there is something strange about the noble that passed them by.

He takes note of this, knowing whenever he felt suspicious…

"Hey! Dante, are you listening?"

"Yeah, yeah…" the devil hunter replied, looking annoyed right now…

"I mean, what is this pizza that you are talking about?"

"It is the greatest baked goodie you could ever taste…" Dante declared as he dreamed of that last pizza he had…

And an idea was born…

"Well the sundae worked before…" he mused,

／人◕ .◕人＼

"And so that is why we're here Marteu, I was kind of hoping if I could borrow a small part of your kitchen…"

The large head chef carefully thought over at the matter…

"If it is our beloved 'Heartbreaker' who requested it, I would be honoured to have my kitchen at your service."

Especially after Dante introduced the 'San-day' dessert to the kitchen, the said confectionary became an instant hit amongst the students and teachers.

With the usual assistance of Dante, courtesy of Cerberus, who made the near-instant ice cream, though later he taught the crew how to manually make them…

A large storage room in the academy especially spell-crafted to store the large barrels of ice cream, and also led to the discovery of refrigeration…

You guessed it; the room has a spell of indefinite frost, made by the combined effort of the Academy faculty and staff.

Before we get too far away from the main subject, let us return to the present as Dante expertly kneads the dough back onto the floured surface and punched it down, getting rid of any bubbles formed. He divided the dough in half and let it rest a few minutes.

As he let the dough rest, he took his attention to the preparation of the rest of the ingredients. Chopping up the onions, green peppers, sausages, mushrooms, and a strange fruit that bears a striking similarity to a pineapple in taste (I have no idea what the fuck it is either, give it a name if you wish : D ).

Dante then prepares the tomato paste, as well as the ground beef, and the finest grated 'royal' cheese.

To the devil hunter, it felt like he is simply cooking at leisure, but to the eyes of the two people present at the scene, he was moving at a speed no ordinary man could have done.

With the preparation of the toppings done, Dante then checks the preheated oven.

Nodding his head that the desired temperature has been met, he returns to the waiting dough.

The dough has now puffed up a bit; the devil hunter tosses and spins the dough to a pair of roughly 15 inch wide circles, one on each hand.

Having no pizza pan around, he had to make do with the pans used in making bread.

Greasing the pans earlier, Dante then places the prepared pizza crust on them, and expertly added the sauce, cheese and the rest of the toppings.

Dante grins as he finally puts the pizzas in the oven.

Finally facing the wide-eyed onlookers, amazed at the speed Dante made the whole thing.

"Now, we wait." He said.

A delicious smell then permeates throughout the kitchen as the pizzas are baked.

After a few minutes later…

Dante carefully takes the baked pizza out.

The smell of the baked food made Louise and the head chef water.

"It looks so tasty." Louise commented, looking at the pair of smoking pies.

"Yes, I do agree." A sultry voice spoke up from behind the two.

It was Kirche, beside her is Tabitha, reading a book.

"What are you doing here?" Louise exclaimed as the two newcomers took their seat casually.

"We saw you two go here, so we followed." Kirche shrugs, while making her way to the devil hunter.

"Hi there Darling…" Kirche greets as she gave Dante a hug, obviously letting him have a feel of her breasts…again.

Not that he's complaining.

"Hi there cutie." Dante grins at the redhead, causing her to look away blushing.

A very rare thing for a Zerbst to do.

Dante leads the blushing girl to the table where the rest are.

The pizza looks nicely done, with a nice golden top, the crust is nicely browned and cheese is beautifully melted.

"…" Marteu was rendered silent as he savoured the pie's aroma and the presentation.

"Enough with the admirin' and let us get eatin'." Dante grinned, with a quick movement of his wrist; he cuts the pizza into eight equal slices with a knife.

Picking up a slice with a fork and placed them on small plates, Dante then presents the finished product to the five people on the table.

"Well, what do you think?"

"My word…You are a genius. Msieu Dante." Marteu cries… as he took bites of his piece of the pie.

"Exquisite, my Darling." Kirche comments, as she ate her piece of the pie.

It doesn't escape from the devil hunter's observation that the redhead is looking at him lustily as she, instead of taking small bites the pie; she suggestively licks the top of it. Over and over.

'Seriously, she never runs out of ideas on turning guy on.'

Dante then turns to the others,

Tabitha, daintily nibbles on a particularly large piece as she continued reading her small book. Only to pause in mid-bite, to complement the cook.

"Good." She said to him.

'As always, a woman of a few words.' He comments to himself,

Louise, on the other hand was at a loss on seeing how the capable his summoned being was.

She had to admit. This pie is great; it has a perfect balance of melding of the flavors of the different ingredients, where each taste compliments the other in a seemingly never ending cycle.

Compared to her, who has just managed to barely grasp basic magic, she's still far off the other end of the spectrum to most of the basic stuff…such as cooking.

She had no idea, how much pain and suffering Dante had to go through to attain the level of at least managing to cook the damn pie properly.

And also the fact that Dante; only knows how to make Pizza and Strawberry Sundae competently.

"Dante-san is really good with this." Someone other than the three nobles and the head chef piped up.

Yes, it was Siesta.

Somehow, she managed to join the group much earlier without the rest of the people noticing.

"Could you please show me how it's made?" she asks suddenly appeared in front of him, with hands clasped in front of her and eyes glittering.

Just how the heck did the maid appear unnoticed and move like that?

"Leave it to Siesta to quickly wanting to learn how to cook new things." Marteu.

Kirche saw this as well and joined in the fray.

"Teach me how to do this as well, Darling." KIrche asked the devil hunter, pulling herself close to him and began playing her finger on his chest.

"Hey, I asked him first!" Siesta complained, showing a behaviour different from her usual demeanor.

"I don't mind 'sharing' him with you," Kirche replied giving a knowing smile at the maid, causing the girl into a blushing fit.

"M-me, sharing Dante-san with Mselle Kirche?" She stammered, her head is already lost in the clouds of fantasy.

'I'm probably sure she's thinking of something other than cooking' Dante reflects.

Marteu just stands there, apparently enjoying the fact that the commoner's hero of the Academy is very popular with women.

"Hey Dante, can you teach me how to make this one?" a small voice then asked.

It was Louise.

Dante isn't so much as interested in teaching stuff, unless if that is all about devil hunting, training and blowing stuff up.

Something in Louise's eyes remind him of himself when he was still starting to learn about baking pizza.

'Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?' the devil hunter thought.

"Alright girls."

Later,

Siesta baked a rather nice cheese, onion, bell pepper, and bacon topped pizza.

"P-please, have some."

"Hmm… Wow Siesta, you actually nailed this one." Dante compliments the girl, causing the girl to blush again.

The maid began thinking again of what she plans to cook for the devil hunter when they get married, living in a nice small house in her village, with a cute puppy, and lots of silver haired children, all bearing the same cute visage as their father's.

"Ahh…" she sighed, with her hands to her cheeks.

'Somehow, I get the feeling that I seemed to have sealed my fate somewhere, whatever I did just now.' The devil hunter thought,

Kirche made one as well, a massive pizza with a nicely browned crust, and a completely red top.

"Well, what can I say… Red is my favourite color. Care to try?" Kirche said, offering the glowing red pie.

Seconds later,

"WAAAAATEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRR!" Everyone who ate Kirche's pizza, except Dante and Kirche screamed as they ran together to the nearest fountain.

Tabitha, a wise girl that she is, didn't dare to touch Kirche's cooking.

'Yeah, you're best friends with Kirche alright.' Dante thought as he nibbled on the pizza. Stifling a slight choke as the devil hunter forced the searing hot food.

'Wow, even the food in hell can't compare with this one. This can kill lesser demons at best.'

"Hmm, I guess it's too spicy for them." Kirche comments, as she took bites of her own creation as if it was nothing.

"It's too damn spicy, you busty bimbo." Louise shouted between gulps of water.

Louise's turn…

In front of Louise, lies a shiny, dark disk, still smoking from the smelting furnace that was once an oven…

Seriously… how on earth did it get so wrong.' She thought.

"I think, we should take a break now." Dante said gravely, putting a hand on the shaking shoulders of the pinkette.

"One more try…"

"It's already the 10th time already, please stop." Marteu begs to the girl.

For 10 times, Louise tried to bake pizza, and 10 times; it ends up with the same result.

A black disk that is as hard and heavy as steel. These dark colored heavy disks, look like they are strong enough to pierce the castle wall if driven with enough force.

How on earth would someone make something akin to steel out of dough made of baking powder and water?

It is this trend that Dante begins to think that Louise should take up metallurgy.

"10 times…" Louise's eyes shivered as tears begin to fall from her eyes.

"I never thought I would get to tease you as a Zero again." Kirche chuckled.

Only to get a nudge and a glare from her tiny bluenette friend.

"Please, don't speak to her that way." Siesta said, looking at Louise with pity.

Tears began to well even more from the pinkette's eyes.

"Umm. Louise? are you…" Dante asked tries to approach her.

"WAAAAAAHHHHH!" Louise runs out of the kitchen, bawling her eyes out.

"Louise!" Dante runs after her, but not before thanking Marteu for the use of the kitchen, and saying goodbye to the rest of the girls.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Louise lies on her bed, hiding under the sheets, crying softly…

Now that she managed to learn basic magic, and tried cooking…

She never thought she would fail in it too.

Sure, she could now cast spells, but only with the help of her summoned being.

Now, she really needs to do something for him for a change… at least to cook for him…

Or something,

*Knock, Knock*

"Go away!" Louise shouts at the person at the door, casting a lock spell on it.

A moment of silence.

Then the door bursts open, as someone drove a force stronger than a Battering Ram, manned by two dozen heavily muscled men.

"Oops. I think I gave it a little bit too much push." A familiar voice said as steps told the pinkette that the person entered her room.

A sound of someone putting up the door again. and a strange shimmering sound.

"You do realize, practice makes perfect." A voice from the door spoke.

Dante.

Louise looks up from under the sheets, appearing more like a sulking two-year-old in such a big bed…

"Yeah, you heard that right, even I messed up a lot of times. You should have seen the damage I made in that cooking class…" Dante stated, as he sat on the bed next to the cocooned mini-mage.

He tells a small tale…

"There was once this man…"

A flash back…

A building burns brightly in flames as a dozen fire trucks do their best to put out the fire.

A silver-haired man in a cooking student's apparel looks on with shock,

"Why?" he asked himself in frustration, "Why can't I get it right?"

The building continues to burn to the ground…

As the memory of that moment fades, the inevitable tinge of pain and regret slightly hung on a bit on the devil hunter's mind. In his frustration with the failures with the pizza making, he unconsciously set the place on fire with an unchecked oven, or was it his powers?

Probably both.

"Yup, that was hell lot worse, compared to yours."

Literally.

Louise meekly came out of her hiding as she sat on top of the bed, looking childishly cute as she asked,

"Really?"

"Yeah, so just continue practicing till you get it right." Dante assured the girl,

Then the devil hunter thought, and then said to the girl,

"But before you do, try to ask yourself, what did you do wrong with the process? Then try working that off and see what happens."

Though clumsily, Dante managed to keep the pinkette from dropping into depression,

"Come here, you." The devil hunter reached out with his arm, and pulled the girl close to him in a hug.

Louise tried to squeak a protest, but covered by the warmth similar to Cattleya's hug; she relents and enjoyed the strangely familiar feeling of having someone who genuinely cares for her.

At least now she realizes that her mixed feeling to her summoned being is somewhat like a surrogate family to her.

An older brother?

Well, more like a crazy, violent, and obviously dangerous elder brother, who likes picking on her on occasions, and someone who will protect and defend her from anything that could hurt her.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Afternoon on the same day...

Guiche falls down on the Academy lawn, panting really hard.

Dante spent the afternoon tortur-er training Guiche.

"What? Getting tired already? This is just a warm up." Dante chuckled darkly; a naughty glint can be seen in his eyes.

Guiche gasps for breath for a while, "Easy for you to say." He retorted

Dante constantly trains Guiche once more by making the boy run around the Academy perimeter, wearing what appear to be, 100 pound weights strapped to his arms, legs, and torso, in order to improve Guiche's base strength.

And also to scratch Dante's itchy trigger fingers.

"Don't be such a baby, I'm doing this for your own good. How can you be a good ladies man if you can't even defend the dame you are wooing?"

"But.."

"No pain no gain. Now, get up."

Guiche groans in protest.

Until,

*Click*

Guiche suddenly leaps from where he lay seconds earlier,

Only one thing that sound meant.

"I'm up! I'M UP! PLEASE DON'T SHOOT!" Guiche pleads as he broke into another lap around the Academy grounds with sparkling tears running down his eyes.

'Even in these situations, he still has that annoying melodramatic streak.' Dante thought as he emotionlessly watched the poor boy stagger but bravely continued to run.

Considering how large the Academy is, he hoped that Dante won't chase him down with his guns blazing like a wild demon like the usual.

"I'm surprised the Academy head hadn't had you arrested already with you shooting those things" Louise comments, while sitting under a large propped parasol as she tried to get some notes done on how to write an edict for her best friend's wedding.

She's not getting anywhere.

"I had his permission to do what I see fit. As long as I don't demolish anything around here." Dante said, shrugging.

"Somehow, sometimes I get the feeling that you are keeping something from me." Louise eyed the red-clad man in question.

"Here." Dante deadpans as he takes something out of his infinite storage room.

A large glass vase of Strawberry Sundae was placed on the tea table next to her.

As soon as she saw the confectionary, her eyes sparkled like diamonds.

Yes, she is also infected with Dante's Sundae Affection.

She also forgot her interrogation of the devil hunter.

Dante amused himself watching the boy run around the Academy grounds, as Louise happily consumed his gift/bribe.

／人◕ .◕人＼

That night.

Dante hangs out at the many windowed outer halls, watching the moon,

Dante spent the time clearing his thoughts as he tries to figure out what exactly is the true purpose is behind the recent movements of the Reconquista and the person or organization pulling the strings.

A shadow hangs over the devil hunter as he rests on the academy window.

"Siesta."

Dante greets the maid as he barely managed to hide his surprise at the maid's presence.

She seems to have the uncanny ability to sneak up on him.

"What are you doing, Dante-san?"

"Just hanging out."

Silence

"Oh by the way, I haven't thanked you for helping me out when I first came here, haven't I?" Dante tries to start up a conversation,

"N-no need to thank me, It is my job to help out after all." Siesta stammered as her blush turns her face bright red.

"Besides, I'm also grateful of what you taught me earlier, I will treasure it in my heart." Siesta bows to him.

"Hey, you don't have to be so formal with this. After all were..."

Wind blows…as Dante looks out at the moon falls silent again,

'Dammit, what's wrong with me tonight?' the devil hunter reflects.

"Umm.. Dante-san?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you!"

She bows, just like Japanese in his world would…

"What's this all of the sudden?"

"No matter what terrible things happened, I never saw you cower. You even stood up to a Noble though you are a commoner."

Well, the noble mentioned is currently sleeping like a log in his room due to exhaustion from Dante's training. Probably having nightmares of the brutal training.

Siesta then smiled… Oh such beautiful a smile it is…

"Your image as you did that gave me a lot of courage, because of you I can still continue to go on…"

"Well, thanks for the compliment." Dante replied, as he scratched his head in embarrassment.

'Wait, where have I heard that line before?' Dante thought as he tried to remember.

Then the maid suddenly bows toward him, and said, "Dante-san, Good night."

"Uh, yeah. Good night to you too…"

The maid gives a final smile and turns to walk away. Dante could have sworn that her expression changed in a split second…

A sad face.

It felt like, the maid is trying to say something to him, but couldn't put it into words.

She'll tell him that when the time is right.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Siesta heaved a heavy sigh as she walked about the castle. Despite how some of the nobles would be mean to her, it really wasn't so bad.

There was always something to do in the Academy, and that is also kept her homesickness in check, and just recently she had made a very special friend.

"Dante…" she whispered,

He showed her that nothing was impossible. He showed her that even a commoner like her can stand a chance in this world ruled by magic wielding bastards.

He proved many times over that nobles aren't invincible as they claim, and they can be humbled as well.

Siesta continued to walk away with heavy steps…

The castle was really beginning to feel like…home…and now she had to leave.

She just hoped that she could at least be able to say goodbye to the one she really cared for.

"Dante…" she whispered into the stars, looking out the window of the lonely halls.

But she couldn't muster the courage to even say anything…

Siesta struggled not to cry as she walked away from the man who gave her so much courage and confidence.

She didn't want to leave.

Unfortunately she doesn't have a choice.

It was Mott who insisted and she couldn't go against his request.

All she could do now is do the best of what she could, and hope for...something...

Things could no doubt eventually get better.

It was all she had now.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Dante heads back into the Academy dormitories, whilst thinking of what Siesta said before,

'You…gave me a lot of courage; because of you I can still continue to go on…'

Something in her words gave Dante a sense of foreboding… he just couldn't point out what?

Passing by a corridor, a door opens, and a familiar figure comes out.

"Hey, lover…" She seductively greets,

'Kirche…' Dante inwardly sighs,

She is dressed in a tight-fitting pink laced negligee, in a design that threatened to make any sane and rational man into raving, sex-craving animal.

And it's currently affecting the 'devil within' so to speak…

So, yeah, it is working perfectly.

She approached the rather sleepy devil hunter, much like a beast of prey stalking its next meal…

"Yo, good evening Kirche. I'm just passing by…and I need to get up early tomorrow."

"If that's the case, let's continue this conversation inside." Kirche said as she grabs the devil hunter's right arm, and hugged it, intentionally pressing it between those bountiful mountains of flesh of hers.

"You could sleep inside whenever you 'want' to.." Kirche used the most seductive voice she could muster just to capture this dashing beefcake that is the target of her love/lust.

Man of steel he may be, but Dante admits to himself that he could feel the softness assault his senses.

There is this rightness of it all…in the obvious wrongfulness of the situation.

"Well, if were just going to 'talk'..."

Seconds later, Dante found himself inside the Germanian girl's room once again,

As he remembered, the last time he was in here, something was about to happen then…

'Round two baby…' a voice in his head whooped.

But then again, he should ask her of her motives.

"May I ask you something, why me? I mean you have a legion of guys at your feet already…"

"That's because you have many things that they don't. It's not worth comparing you to them."

She smiled.

"Really, like what?"

"Like the way you talk, the mannerism, and the words that prove that you weren't raised in a civil way."

'Well, civil in your world anyway.' Dante thought, unconsciously looking down at those huge jugs.

Looking at those things that would suck you into them, making you suck them back in retaliation.

The fuck is he thinking.

"And the way you melded beauty and savagery in dealing with your enemies, just makes me want to…"

He may love to play with fire at times, but he is currently not in a mood…

"Well look at the time." Dante tries to steer the thing off topic,

Kirche suddenly launches an attack, hugging the devil hunter and forcing him down on the soft bed.

"This time, you will not escape. The Hunter of Love, my Von Zerbst blood is excited."

"Really… Whatever do you mean by 'Hunter'" Dante couldn't help but ask, as the redhead's hands began stroking for his hidden sword in his pants.

"Hey..."

"I get more aroused when my prey resists more."

'Oh it's on girl…' Dante thought as he's actually fired up by now.

Suddenly, the door bursts open,

Louise is at the door, looking really tired and very annoyed.

"Oh, the pest appears…" Kirche deadpans, apparently losing interest.

Louise wordlessly drags Dante out of the room, again…

"Seriously…" Louise huffed

'This is getting old,' Dante couldn't help but sigh, as the mini-mage slams the door, leaving the busty redhead to her devices.

'Dante managed to escape tonight, but the next time, I will trap him and ravish his body. Whether he likes it or he loves it.' Kirche thought as plans began to plot…

／人◕ .◕人＼

Morning...

Siesta is looking up at a window, eyes filled with regret. She's currently not wearing her maid uniform; instead she's in her simple casual clothes. In her hand is what small amount of luggage she has.

Sighing, Siesta turns to get on the waiting carriage.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Later…

Dante is hanging outside with other familiars as Louise took her lessons.

Watching magic can be fun but as soon as the novelty fell off, it became a bore. So much that he usually ends up falling asleep. And his snoring distracts the class...

Besides that, most of the young ladies can't concentrate with him around, especially after the Guiche duel.

Dante now has been a target of their fantasies so much that instead of taking notes of their lessons, some of them instead end up either making an extremely detailed sketch of Dante as he intently watched the lessons, to poems dedicated to him, a bust sculpture,

There's even a series of fictional novels with him as the main character authored by a mysterious writer calling him/herself the Flaming Admirer.

It is written in the most colourful of the French-like language, describing the most 'interesting' love stories ever published.

Louise fainted the first time she read it. Then steeled herself to read it again, for the sake of the research.

Then Siesta began carrying around a copy of the series as well, this includes whenever she goes for a bath for some reason.

Passers by could sometimes hear faint moans emanating from within whenever she goes there.

Thus the two girls began a strange friendship built on erotic novels…

"Hey watch where you're touching…" Dante complains as a boa twines itself around Dante's legs.

Then the other familiars began crowding, and snuggling against the devil hunter.

Dante sighed. He needs to be somewhere else right now.

／人◕ .◕人＼

The devil hunter then proceeds to visit the Academy kitchen, and was greeted by the head cook, Marteu.

"Hey, it's the Heartbreaker." A strong slap to the back, announced that the chief cook is here.

"The Heartbreaker has come to the kitchen once again!" the burly, yet kind man bellowed.

"Hey, don't make it sound like I'm a VIP here."

"But of course you are, Dante, you're our hero."

Sitting next to the worktable Dante was given a small keg and a mug of beer, as well as some soup.

"Thanks for letting me chow here."

"Don't worry about it; it's just the surplus of the nobles after all..."

The devil hunter looks around for a certain someone...

"By the way, where is Siesta?"

The head Cook falls silent.

"Oh right, her job isn't to cook meals, so it won't be like she's here all the time."

Then, Dante noticed the dark look on the cook's face.

"Was it something I said?"

"Have you not heard from Siesta?"

Minutes later… after Marteu explained to Dante what happened.

"What? She quit?" Dante blurted out,

"Wait, Siesta didn't tell you?"

"Where is she now?"

"Aye, she is now serving a Noble named Count Mott. Early this morning, a carriage came to pick her up."

"Are you kidding? Why all of the sudden?"

"In the end, commoners just have to do whatever the nobles want them to."

The Chief Cook gets angry, but he knows he can't do anything about it. He then walks off with slumped shoulders.

"Now back to work again,"

Marteu leaves Dante with his thoughts

'Siesta, why didn't you say anything?' the devil hunter thought...

He remembered the sincere smile she gave last night.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Later, Dante is with Louise in her room...

"Count Mott is the royal messenger and every once in a while he comes to this school." Louise said as she brushed her hair

"Unfortunately, my family and him are...maintaining a close relationship. The Vallière family helps him on occasion, and the count use his influence with other nobles to help us as well. But, he's always so arrogant not to mention lecherous, so I don't like him at all."

"But…Why would Siesta work for someone of his stature?

The sword interjects…

"You do realize, in this world, Nobles had all the fun right? And that when a Noble specifically calls for a young girl, it normally means for her to be his mistress…Don't you even know that?"

"Mistress? Are you serious?"

Looks at Louise,

"I've heard stories like that. There are many types of Nobles out there after all."

Dante looks out the window as the sun sets over the horizon.

Louise remembered something…

In a hushed voice she tells the devil hunter,

"Besides that, there are stories being told that many of the hired help he took were young women, and that no one has seen them after a while."

"Siesta." Dante whispered,

／人◕ .◕人＼

At the Academy's indoor fountain...

"This is Wonderful! A mithril brooch?" Montmorency asked her boyfriend as she takes a closer look on the brooch given to her.

"It matches you well, does it not, Montmorency?" Guiche declared, rather overactingly said.

"Are you trying to erase what you did?" a voice suddenly cut through whatever romantic atmosphere he was trying to build up.

"You can't honestly believe that…" the voice added.

His jaw nearly dropped when he saw Dante, with his arms crossed looking rather impatient...

"Master, W-What are you doing? Are you trying to get in the way of my love again?"

'Idiot.' Dante thought,

"Nope, I'm just here to ask you something…"

／人◕ .◕人＼

It's already dinner time but Dante hasn't been back yet.

Louise wondered,

" Oh, where's Dante?"

Kirche then pops up. Pushing a cart filled with goodies, obviously looking for her 'Darling'.

"So now you're going to seduce him with food?" Louise huffed

"Well, I can't give it to him if he's not here. Where ever did he go?"

"He said he's going out, and hasn't returned since. Where did he go to…"

Oh not too long ago, he asked me where Count Mott's mansion is..." Guiche supplied the information,

"Count Mott's?" Louise sputtered,

"I wonder if he got tired of you and ran off?"

"Though, I have never heard of a familiar that has betrayed their master." Kirche laughs,

"But, this is Dante we are talking about here..." Guiche adds,

"Oh, that is true." Kirche agreed

"But, Count Mott has been a favoured Noble by the Palace..." Guiche said,

In a flash, Louise suddenly runs off

"Louise?" Kirche

／人◕ .◕人＼

Mott's estate, Dante arrives on Sleipnir.

"Is this the place? It seems to need of more landscaping..." Dante comments as he looked around the scenery. A palace like house and a yard a mile long, dismissing the thought as well as his ride, the devil hunter proceeds to enter the gate...

As soon as he entered the estate, a familiar air can be felt by the devil hunter.

'Shit, don't tell me...'

Suddenly, an armoured guard appears,

"Who's there?"

"I'm bringing a message for a Count Mott. It's urgent." Dante tries the Pizza Delivery Guy ruse as he wore the most charming smile.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Meanwhile in the Count's home...

Mott lounges on the couch as he recounted how he acquired Siesta.

"Oh, the fun we will have my dear maiden, I just hope you won't break easily." The count giggled madly…

"Am I interrupting something?" a cold voice cuts the giggling like a knife.

Mott quickly switches his façade into a business-like one,

"Ah Mr. Blue, what brings you here?" as he nervously scanned his room.

A sudden cold wave of wind blanketed the room as a wisp of smoke coalesces into a human shaped form.

In seconds, a solid form of a hooded figure in blue, like an immovable mountain despite its rather small stature, stood in front of the noble.

"My master wishes to know your progress on finding the items he sought."

"I'm still looking for it…"

Suddenly a wave of ethereal daggers sailed through the air, catching the noble in surprise.

He prepares for the worst, only for the daggers to stop in mid-air, just inches from his face.

"Master said this, 'if you don't have any information on the whereabouts of the Founder's items in Tristain within three days, you die. If you hear me, nod, if you don't, you can die right now."

Mott, shaking with fright, just nods.

"Good." The cloaked figure said as it once again disappears into a cloud of smoke.

／人◕ .◕人＼

An hour later…

Siesta waited for the Count's further orders, as she stood in front of the noble.

"So, have you gotten used to work here?" he asks the maid,

Siesta withheld the urge to shudder as she tried to answer.

It had been her hope that by showing she was a good maid and worked hard, he'd forget about making her his mistress. A commoner she might be, but she's not stupid.

For some reason, it seemed like the manor reeked of something strange, something alien.

As she worked around the house, she can't help but feel like she's being watched.

Mott had asked for her by name and she had actually received her own quarters along with very fine clothes to work in as well as furniture.

It is obvious that the Count did not want her as his maid, but as a bed partner.

'Screw this...' she thought. But she replied, "Yes, just about."

Mott rose from his chair, and approached the maid saying, and moves behind the maid.

"I see, I see. Don't push yourself"

Mott then puts a rather heavy hand on her shoulder, squeezing it lecherously, bends over next to her and whispered "I didn't just hire you for these petty tasks, Siesta..."

He actually nuzzled up to her and whispering in her ear as if he were her lover.

Ugh! Just having him touch her like that made her skin crawl. Her instinct wanted her to run away, but her common sense tells her that he'd probably have her tracked down and captured.

By that time, he wouldn't nearly be as merciful since his pride would have been wounded by her actions.

She heard from many stories that when a noble's pride was wounded, terrible things happened to the people whether they were responsible for it or not.

She then remembered her family.

The only choice at the moment is to get detached from herself if she wanted to survive…

…why did this have to happen to her?

"Umm." Siesta mumbled,

A knock to the door interrupts the Count,

"What is it?"

"A person calling himself, Dante is asking for your presence."

"Dante? I've never heard of such a name."

'It can't be...' Siesta thought.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Count Mott sees the white haired man in a red longcoat with a sheathed long sword strapped on his back, waiting for him at the receiving room being flanked by the guards. He looked familiar.

Dante took his time to look around; Mott's parlor was actually quite pleasant; thick red wood panelling, finely polished and cut lent the room a sort of cozy atmosphere. The comfortable chairs and the smoldering fire in the fireplace did nothing to detract from that. The thick green carpet was soft and very luxurious. It almost reminded Dante of his old family home. Indeed, the devil hunter felt like eating up in the whole scene, metaphorically speaking. It tasted of nostalgia, and the fire lent the whole room a sort of pleasantly smoky scent.

"I wondered what this nonsense was all about." Mott said irritably as he looked at the strangely dressed man.

Dante's eyes narrowed, even as he filed such talk away. "I came here for a certain handmaiden. I understand she was recently brought here."

"Hmm?" Mott asked. "And who is this young lass?"

"Her name is Siesta," Dante replied.

"Ah," Mott said. That will be something of a problem. You see, Siesta is mine."

'That line there sounded dangerous.' Dante thought, preparing his mind, body and weapons for a quick strike, just in case.

"Be gone! Be grateful that I even allow my presence in front of you, commoner!"

Standing up, the noble waves the man off and begins to walk away.

"Seriously, if you return Siesta back, I probably won't have to hurt you."

The count stops.

"You, hurt me? How absurd. Alright, I'll play along then, what is your relationship with Siesta?" the noble demanded

Dante shrugs saying,

"Well, I guess you could call us...coworkers."

"So you're just a servant of the Academy then?"

'Not really' Dante thought, and said aloud.

"Nope, I'm employed by someone else. I heard that when a noble calls for a specific girl for a servant... they usually end up as their mistresses. Is that what you're planning?"

"Siesta is now a formal servant of the Mott estate. How the master treats his servant is under his own jurisdiction."

Mott confidently said as he plays with his moustache in one hand.

"Just as I thought" Dante said,

Mott turns smug.

"So what? For a nameless commoner to serve under a Palace Noble as myself should be considered a great honor. After all, she is mine to play with, mine to discipline"

Mott prided himself, looking down at the much taller devil hunter.

"Honor, my ass. You're just taking advantage of the fact that Siesta can't refuse. You damn stinking catfish."

Dante tries to approach the count but was held back by the guards by crossing their spears in front of the silver haired man.

Mott laughs at the commoner's show of outrage, as well as his apparent helplessness.

But he then realized what Dante has just said, and turns red in anger.

"You! Do you think its fine for a commoner to insult a Noble."

"Nope, But I think IT'S COOL TO INSULT A NOBLE."

He takes a long staff leaning on his chair and quickly turns around to face the grinning devil hunter.

"Bow down and apologize!" He roared, pointing the staff at Dante.

'Oooh. It's on.' The devil hunter thought, mentally preparing himself for the next event.

*Crash*

Siesta bursts out of the door, surprising everyone present in the room.

"Stop it Dante-san," she pleaded as runs in front of the count and bows down to the count.

"Sir Count. Please forgive that man's rudeness."

"I will not. For me to take an insult from a meagre Commoner is a heavy offense. Move Siesta!"

"I won't."

"What?"

"Count Mott, I beg of you. I'll take any punishment that you desire!" Siesta pleads.

"Siesta! Get out of my way!" Dante said coldly,

Mott gives a thought,

"You there, the one called Dante..."

"Yeah,"

"How would you like a duel for Siesta's meat then? That sounds like wonderful sport," Mott replied. "And you look like you can amuse me for a while..."

Something with the way this creep speaks, irritated the devil hunter.

Standing tall, he replied casually,

"Ditto."

In a quick motion, Mott pulls a tasselled rope hanging beside his chair.

A click.

Dante suddenly found himself falling approximately four stories deep through a trapdoor.

"Ah, Crap."

／人◕ .◕人＼

In the skies… a blue dragon soars the night sky.

"If he draws his sword in a Noble's house then the Commoner can't complain if he gets executed on the spot." Kirche said to Louise as the they along with Tabitha, rode Sylphid on their way to Mott's estate.

"I know."

"But then again, this is Dante we're talking about here. It won't end well with the Noble crossing him that's for sure."

"I know."

"Tabitha, let's hurry."

"Landing at the mansion."

"Huh?"

It would seem that they have arrived.

The dragon quickly dived to the designated landing spot with the screaming two holding on for dear life.

／人◕ .◕人＼

"Wow, he sure pulled a rug from under me there."

Dante finds himself in a pitch dark room.

As Louise told him earlier, this might be the place where those people disappeared into.

Since seeing is out of the option at the moment, he quickly put his other senses to use.

Assailing his sense is the overpowering stench of rotting things.

And then he felt that he's no longer alone.

"I need a light." Dante said to no one in particular as he channels a bit of Beowulf's light energy in to a small floating light orb, flooding the room with light.

All of the sudden, the room comes alive with the cacophony of groans, roars and a bunch of other noise that sounded alien, yet appallingly human at the same time, sounds from someone's worst nightmare.

The light reveals that Dante is currently surrounded by scores of ravenous, horrible parodies of creation that only the twisted minds could conceive.

Some had body parts placed in the most insane places like eyes on the palm of the hands, or on the forehead.

Some had misshapen and huge sized limbs, sewn together like some do-it –yourself dolls, only crazier.

Meet the hordes of Flesh Golems, creatures made from corpses of either human or animals, clumsily sewn and put together, infused with Dark Magic, to give a mockery of life to them.

So that explains what happened to the missing people.

Turned into obviously bizarre and inhumane experiments. The realization made Dante very pissed.

"I'm coming for you. You damn catfish." Dante coldly said, as he draws the two pistols, Ebony and Ivory, spinning them on their trigger guards, then instantly stops, and points the guns at the nearest living corpse and began an insane barrage of magically reproduced lead at the golems.

Each of the bullets found their marks, easily rending, tearing, and vaporising all that was not Dante.

The deranged creatures howled, roared and groaned as the large numbers of them attacked the man clad in red only to dwindle with the devil hunter's overpowered onslaught.

None of them even managed to land a hit on Dante as he stood his ground in the middle of the room shooting in such speeds that could rival a battalion firing their guns, all at the same time.

Dante kept the two meter radius circle free from the steadily piling Flesh golems in the room, as he madly rained death on the creatures, killing them again.

'Just think of them as those sparkling vampires and shoot them on sight.' Dante reminds himself, sporting a smirk as whips out the Coyote-A, his shotgun, and began handling it in a manner similar to how he uses nunchucks, and shoots the shotgun with unlimited ammo. It made a constant sphere of lead impeding and killing every thing in the shots' path.

Dante's showing off the Fireworks to the Flesh golems.

It was this trend until,

*Bang*

The devil hunter finished off the undead straggler.

Looking around the now a literally room full of corpses, he finds a large, heavy doubledoors.

Obviously locked.

Dante then simply kicks the door down with enough force that the door was completely annihilated.

／人◕ .◕人＼

The next room Dante ended up to was Mott's "playroom."

If the sign written over the door isn't an obvious to the onlooker

Located under the manor, there was a long flight of stairs leading down into the dungeons just to get there.

And if Dante thought he'd seen bad stuff earlier, all of that paled in comparison to what he saw when he arrived here.

The first thing he noted was the smell. Human waste mixed with sweat, and something else that his conscious mind could actually identify from his experiences, spoke of fear.

The second thing he noted was the sobbing that came from within Mott's "playroom." It sounded familiar. It sounded like a group of girls' in there.

Dante stepped in, eyes flashing in readiness, walking like a shadow, silent.

The third thing he noticed were group of young women, chained to the far wall, as nude as new born babes. Two men in fire-blackened robes seemed to be preparing them for something, but what?

But from look of the girls' bodies, it looked like he'd arrived just in time; they hadn't yet had time to start doing unnameable things to them in earnest.

"Oho, I see you're still with the living. So, what do you think, commoner? The playroom is my pride and joy. And I plan on putting Siesta in here later as well."

Dante then turned towards the speaker.

Mott standing with his back turned to him.

"You sick bastard," Dante gritted his teeth in anger.

Mott stopped and turned.

"Come now, peasant. That's no way to talk to your betters. What ignorant fools like you consider depravity, I consider this as entertainment."

"You call this entertainment?" Dante coldly queried,

"That it is, my white-haired friend."

"Yeah, and the results now lie in the room back there. Squicky, if you ask me." Dante retorted, pointing his thumb back to the room from whence he came.

"Those are nothing more than scraps from my earlier work. To be honest, I wanted to get rid of them anyway, so I guess I should thank you for it."

"What the hell are you doing? These are people were talking about here! Those were once people too! What happened to the 'Noble' in your Nobility?"

"Even the royalty knows of this. They know the value of my little ventures."

"Bullshit! If your "ventures" are anything like what I've seen here, this is really sick. I don't think that the royalties know of this extent."

"Yes, I admit that the royalties have no idea of my real business. Besides the production of Tristain's best wine, I also dabble on trading of slaves, already broken, and ready for consumption. It is one of my pride and joy of a business." Mott replied, looking rather proud of it as well,

"They simply... Let us say that they just want the political capital my support gives them. They don't particularly care how I get it."

"Even here, corruption runs deep as well. Might as well stop you here on in." Dante declared, readying the guns hidden within his coat.

"Stop me? I have never heard of a commoner that's as stupid as you." Mott points his staff at the devil hunter.

"Yeah, I hear that a lot."

"Well, then, since you unveiled to you my little secret, you could at least try to entertain me a bit more. A duel it is..." Mott said

"My runic name is the Wave. I am a triangle mage."

It is apparent that Mott is not planning to let Dante leave this place.

"My 'runic' name is 'I'll-kick-your-ass-bigtime'!" Dante declared mockingly,

Suddenly, a water torrent appears out of from countless vases throughout the mansion as the count gathers them to form a huge ball of water...

"Oh, I forgot about that." Dante deadpans as he curiously looked at the huge body of water forming above the count.

"You do realize this guy is a Count, right? As in, hello? Count = Noble = Mage ever ring a bell?" Derflinger removes itself from the sheath to speak.

Dante simply stands and shrugs…

"Quit showin' and just bring it." Dante said, gesturing a cocky 'come hither' stance.

"I will so love to 'discipline' you." Mott hissed,

Mott sends torrents of Water Spears at Dante, who only disappears and appears right in front of the mage.

His face was a look of surprise, at the speed of the devil hunter.

"Good form sir, but it's a no sell in my books." the devil hunter grinned.

Mott was so surprised that he hadn't had the time to register what happened next.

"Guh!" the Noble grunts as he doubled over in pain with the force of the punch Dante nonchalantly throws to the nobleman's gut.

On the side note, he also knocked out the two robed men, at that same time too.

The perks of the Trickster skill, Air Trick.

"Sweet Dreams, buddy…" Dante joked as Mott falls to unconsciousness.

"As much as I want to impale you through your posterior with a rusty spear, I suppose leaving you to the authorities would be enough for now." Dante spat at the

As much as Dante wanted to kill the man, he's still a human. He will face the judgement of the royals once this little fiasco comes to light.

Dante then shoots Ivory at the shackles that held the girls, breaking all the manacles in one shot.

"Get to the surface, quick!" Dante orders them as he heard something slither in the darkened dungeon corridors…

.

It seems that his job is not yet over, as he felt a surge of malevolent energy flowing from the top.

The receiving room.

／人◕ .◕人＼

During that moment, the maid is left sitting at the receiving room, as ordered by Mott.

More like imprisoned.

Siesta, not knowing much of Dante's other abilities, is still a bit worried of the devil hunter.

Mustering what courage she had left, she then tries to reach out of the door, only to hear a sound akin to a disembodied hiss…

A shiver ran down her spine, as a feeling of being watched assailed her now overdriven senses.

All of the sudden, the wall crashes behind her,

Siesta then looks at the darkened hole in the wall.

The alien, palpable presence assailed the maid anew, as this seemed different from the fear she felt from Count Mott.

Her common sense tells her that she needs to run away, NOW!

In a blink of an eye, a number of long thick, ropy things snake out from the hole, tying themselves around the maid's limbs and her waist.

Too late for Siesta to realize that she was ensnared by a number of grayish, slimy tentacles.

And the more she struggled, the more tightly the tentacles wrap around her, as it roughly explores the rest of her outer body, groping her bountiful breasts, waist, and began to slither down her crotch.

She is repulsed at how these things slither as these things begin to violate her.

But at her current state, she is helpless. She can't even scream as one of these things covered her mouth.

The things now began ripping her clothes off.

"Mmmph?"

Meet the resident all-tentacled abomination. Cthuloid.

Perverts might recognise where this thing might be going…

The tentacles now had free reign as they undulated, crawled, and slithered over her white flesh, eliciting whimpers and struggling from the gagged maid.

The situation looks hopeless, as the tentacles seem to have another idea to pull. The slithering things that had her legs pulled down and slowly began the raise her up into the air, as well as gently spreading her legs, as another tentacle eagerly waits for the chance to…

Yup, you guys could see where this will go…

Siesta's pendant begins to glow golden white as, for some reason the maid began to feel like she's getting stronger.

"Break free, my child." A voice whispered to her mind. She could only describ it as a voice of a goddess, kind, gentle, benevolent but possessed strength and authority, someone familiar to her.

In a desperate bid for freedom, Siesta pulls out from the clutches of the creature's grasping tentacles.

Falling hard on the floor on her feet, Siesta lost no time and began to sprint out of that horrible creature's reach in such speeds she never thought possible for her to pull off.

That thing chased the maid through the chambers and out to the receiving hall, ending up with the playroom, for some reason…

"Kyaaah!" she screamed as she ran.

There she saw the red coated man, setting the rest of the prisoners free.

"Dante!" she cried to him, causing the devil hunter to look towards her,

"Holy sh-"

Dante's jaw dropped, stunned as he unconsciously watched the now half naked Siesta running towards the devil hunter, with her large bare breasts gracefully bouncing around as she ran to him.

It was seconds before Dante noticing the creature chasing her. The source of the malevolent energy.

*Bang*

A gunshot stops the creature in its advance.

"Yeah, I got to admit, you have a pretty good taste in women,"

Dante steps between the maid and the creature, with the shotgun, Coyote-A, trained upon it.

Quicker than a rattlesnake strike, the creature's wormlike appendages began slithering towards the maid.

*Bang*

The attacking tentacles were blasted to pieces by the shotgun.

"Keep your dirty tentacles off my girl!"

"M-my girl?" Siesta stammers,

Though Dante might be half joking with the statement,

To Siesta's mind, he is half serious.

Then,

Much to the horror of the maid, the mass of tentacles began writhing again, and in a flash, leaped into the air, engulfing the devil hunter in a deadly embrace.

A pulsing ball of slimy worm-like things stood where Dante was earlier.

Before the maid could express her grief,

"Don't worry child, he's fine." the voice assure her.

As soon as the voice said this, the ball of tentacles suddenly explodes in a flare of light energy.

Courtesy of Kirche's Uber hot Pizza, which the creature consumed when it accidentally fell from the devil hunter's infinite armory as Dante tries to get the best Devil Arm for the job.

"Cough, Cough. Never thought I was right about Kirche's pizza." Dante, said amidst the smoky crater made by the exploding monster.

He then turns to the maid,

"Siesta, are you al—gwah"

Dante gets an extra powerful glomp from Siesta, as tears flowed from her eyes, sobbing softly.

"How could she glomp me like that?"

"Hey, don't cry anymore. You're safe." Dante assures the maid as he hugged her and patted her…bare back.

'Oh, yeah, I forgot, she's practically naked ' Dante thought producing a cloak out of thin air to protect the girl's modesty.

As the maid cried, she felt the burst of strength leave her body as she hugged the devil hunter for support.

／人◕ .◕人＼

After the rescue…

Louise and the rest of the girls were shocked to find out what actually has been happening within the Mott estate.

Apparently based on some documents found in his room, the Count has been a well known figure in the business of slave trading. Then also as a devout researcher on the forbidden arts side of magic.

Thus, Mott has been arrested to these charges. And is currently in Tristain's Dungeon while awaiting trial.

The Mott estate has been reclaimed by the Royals to withhold until the suitable Landlord or any of Mott's relatives would claim it.

After that fiasco, it'll take some time, and someone with steel balls to take the manor under his care.

"Really, I can't thank you enough." Siesta said as she continued to bow at Dante in gratitude.

"Don't mention it, I was glad to help."

"But it was you, Dante, who didn't give up on trying to save me when no one did."

Siesta moved closer to Dante as the devil hunter tries to explain, "But I was just-"

The words never came as Siesta sealed his lips with a kiss.

Then a brightly blushing Siesta runs off with her luggage back to the Academy.

"G-good night!"

／人◕ .◕人＼

"You know," Dante began to talk to Louise,

"We're going back to our room." She said, ignoring what her summoned being is trying to say.

"I gotta say..."

"Just shut up."

As the two arrived in Louise's room, Dante notices a familiar smell.

Lo and behold, there stood a large pizza pie on the tea cart.

Dante then looks at Louise, who looked away saying 'W-well, I thought of what you said earlier, and did find what was wrong, and I, did it just like you told me."

"Thanks." The devil hunter gins as he tried a slice. "Not bad, kid. Keep it up."

Louise runs to the devil hunter and hugs him,

Dante then pats the mini-mage and gently ruffles her hair, much like how Cattleya did to her.

"Thank you," she whispered to the winds…

／人◕ .◕人＼

With the Tristain castle dungeons. Mott was suddenly stirred awake.

A blue cloaked figure appears out of thin air, as Mott comes around,

Cobalt.

The figure then throws something at the feet of the disinherited Noble.

And sees the piece of the tentacled chimera.

"But-But!" Mott cried. "My finest creation!"

Cobalt indicated the part of the now desiccated carcass that was the Chtulian.

"Yeah, and now it's dead, and so are you."

Cobalt's ethereal blade moved so fast that it looked like it never moved; only Mott's wand-hand clattering to the stone floor told the story.

Mott stared at his severed hand in shock. Cobalt's grin grew wider.

He is good at disarming targets, both figuratively and literally.

"Are we having fun yet?" Cobalt asked, sporting a devilish grin from within the dark confines of his hood.

"You know what? I think you were right. Torture is a wonderful sport."

"Mercy! Mercy!" Mott cried, clutching his profusely-bleeding stump. "Please don't kill me!"

"Mmmhmm. I'm sure lots of people have begged that very same thing of you over the years for the sake of your 'research'. So tell me, why should I?"

Mott noticed that Cobalt placed particular emphasis on "people."

"But what about my services towards the Master?…" Mott replied, eyes nearly rolling up due to shock and the blood gathering up in his mouth threatening to drown his lungs.

"You have been rewarded for that, right? The forbidden knowledge of bringing up the dead for your twisted pleasures came from him you know." Cobalt sliced off the other hand. "Better make the next plea good, I'm running out of body parts to lop off."

"The Master needs my support," Mott was remarkably coherent for someone who just suffered such wounds.

"If it has anything to do with the retrieval of the items, I can do it alone." Cobalt said in a chillingly cheery voice for a second.

Cobalt took a leg this time, sending the noble collapsing to the ground in a heap.

Mott turned towards the assassin, using his bloody stumps for leverage. His lips were red with blood, his visage pale. "Spare me. Please spare me. Let's have a deal, just you and me."

Cobalt cracked a nasty smile, as the assassin raised an inquiring eyebrow at the corpse to be.

"I'll give you money. Servants. Anything you want. Just spare me," Mott continued. "I'll-"

Cobalt smiled, eyes narrowed and gleefully glinting. "Time's up."

Cobalt felt alive, so alive. He felt euphoric, like his head was in the clouds. His limbs felt light and tingly.

Yet his inner turmoil is not reflected in his expression.

Remaining the same cold, silent, and calculating creature outside, as Cobalt approached the dying man in slow, methodical steps.

Killing scum, he really liked it. Oh, how he loved it. He enjoyed that heady sense of power, of holding life and death in his hands. He loved watching the slow realization creep into bastards like Mott's eyes as his mind grasped that one point with crystal clarity: There was no mercy to be found.

Mott is now a useless piece that only needs disposal.

Mott's remaining blood splashed on the walls.

For some reason, his inner self couldn't rationalize how could the assassin enjoy seeing people die?

Cobalt revelled in Mott's suffering, just as he revelled in the suffering of all those people he destroyed all these years in the battlefield.

This isn't him. Something in the back of his mind screamed at him,

If this isn't him, who is he?

Dismissing this confusion, his eyes coldly eyed his desiccated victim as he effortlessly lifts what is left of the dying man on one hand; he gave the final thrust to the Count's head with Dainsleif, using the bastard sword form, impaling the twitching freshly killed corpse to the wall.

Like an insect pinned to the wall in display for all to see.

And that was that…

"Mott, tonight you dine in hell." He comments,

'What am I doing?' a voice screamed at the back of his mind, and for some reason, the voice was his.

Cobalt leaves the messy scene, contemplating on his thoughts.

He is needed somewhere else.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Somehow, this is a clusterfuck of unforeseeable events…

Sorry for the long wait…

I do need to work.

Got an inspiration from a hentai movie I *ehem* 'accidentally' saw.

And had nighmares thanks to it.

I'll never see shit the same way again.

Took brain bleach, but bleached the wrong side of the brain, thus my constantly recurring memory loss.

Currently, getting my ass kicked by the Muse.

Till next time. : D

Please review, and thanks for the patronage.

"Stay thirsty my friends."


	16. Mission 16 : Wild Goose Chase

Another boring chapter...

Are you ready?

Let's get it on...

Mission 16 : Wild Goose Chase

Excerpts from an unknown manuscript….

'Sparda is not just a Devil: He has emotions and can love, and in this lies his true strength, hence enabling him to wield power most demons could never dream of... power in which those who tried to gain it will fail, because no one of them did what they did because of love for humans.'

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Fantasy pic : Cobalt face the camera, holding the Yamato while in a stance; right leg forward, sword held in the left hand parallel to the body, right hand held in front along the blade. And the sword is pointed at the camera.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Louise was seated in the east courtyard of the Academy of Magic, commonly known as Austri, and frantically knitting. The spring weather was beginning to change as summer approached, but Louise could still be seen in her spring clothing. Even during the summer, it was quite dry instead of humid.

Ten days had passed since they had returned from Albion. That day was a day off. Without even eating dessert, Louise came to the courtyard after her meal to knit. Sometimes, she would give her hands a rest and stare at the white pages of the Founder's Prayer book while thinking of a fitting edict/poem for the Princess's ceremony.

Around her, students were enjoying themselves. There was a group playing with a ball. Using magic, they would throw the ball into a basket without using their hands and try to score the most points. Staring at the group of people, Louise sighed heavily and looked at what she had started to knit. Though she knows how to properly use magic, she still feels rather awkward among the rest of the students when it comes to befriending them.

Tsunderes...

Looking at the scene from the side, it was much like a painting. Sitting there quietly, Louise looked like a beautiful girl. Louise's hobby was knitting. When she was small, her mother told her that if she had no talent for magic, she should at least have something she was good at, and so her mother taught her how to knit.

But it seemed like the heavens did not give Louise any talent in knitting. Louise had planned to knit a sweater. However, regardless of how favorably she looked upon it, it looked more like a distorted muffler. Actually it was more like an object complicatedly entangled with wool. Louise stared bitterly at the object and let out another sigh.

The face of the maid working in the kitchen resurfaced in her mind. Louise knew that she was making food for Dante. Dante thought Louise didn't know, but she was not completely oblivious.

'That girl can cook well. Kirche has good looks. What do I have? Harboring these thoughts, she decided to try her hobby, knitting, but it seems like it wasn't such a good choice.'

Well, she actually managed to make a pizza for Dante a few days earlier. But she wanted to do something else for him.

Just as she was becoming slightly depressed from staring at the thing she was knitting, someone tapped her on the shoulder.

It was Kirche.

Panicking, Louise quickly hid what she was knitting with the Founder's Prayer Book.

"What are you doing Louise?"

Kirche gave her usual smile that seemed like she was looking down on her, and sat next to Louise.

"C-Can't you see? I'm reading."

"But, that book is blank, isn't it?"

"This book is a national treasure called the Founder's Prayer Book, you know?", said Louise

"Why do you have a national treasure?"

Louise explained to Kirche that at Henrietta's wedding ceremony, she was to read out the edict and how she was to use the Founder's Prayer Book, and so on.

"I see. I'm guessing that the Princess's wedding ceremony has something to do with the journey to Albion?"

Louise considered whether to answer Kirche truthfully or not, but since Kirche had acted as a decoy so that they could go on ahead, she nodded.

"We risked our lives so that the Princess's wedding could proceed smoothly? Not a very prestigious task… So, basically it has something to do with the alliance between Tristain and Germania announced the other day?"

Kirche was quite sharp.

"Don't say anything to anyone about it," said Louise with a slightly discouraged expression.

"Of course I won't. I'm not Guiche you know. Our two native countries have become allies. We should try and get along from now on. Right, La Vallière?"

Kirche put her hands on Louise's shoulders and smiled, almost purposefully.

"Did you hear? Albion's new government proposed a non-aggression treaty. Cheers to the peace that we brought about."

Louise replied half heartedly. For the sake of this peace, Henrietta had to marry a prince whom she didn't even love. You could say that she had no choice, but it wasn't something to be happy about.

"By the way, what were you knitting?"

Louise blushed deeply.

"I-I wasn't knitting anything."

"You were. It is here, right?"

Kirche grabbed it from under the Founder's Prayer Book.

"Hey, give it back!"

Louise was trying to take it back, but Kirche easily restrained her.

"What is it?" asked Kirche, dumbfounded while looking at the object.

"I-It's a sweater."

"A sweater? It looks more like a starfish. And a new species at that."

"As if I would knit something like that!"

Louise finally snatched her knitting back, and looked downwards, embarrassed.

"Why are you knitting a sweater?"

"None of your business."

"That's ok. I know why anyway."

Kirche put her hands on Louise's shoulders again and approached her face.

"You were knitting it for Dante weren't you?"

"N-No! I would never do such a thing!" cried Louise, with a bright red face.

"You're really easy to understand you know. You like him, right? Why?", asked Kirche while looking into Louise's eyes.

"I-I don't like him. You're the one who likes him. That idiot is too violent and scary."

'Not the way you like him anyway.' Louise thought.

"You know Louise, when you lie, you're earlobes shake. Did you know that?"

Louise quickly grabbed her earlobes. Realizing that it was a lie, she returned her hands to her knees in a flustered manner.

"A-Anyhow, I won't give him to you. He's my magical partner anyway. I will not allow you to corrupt him."

'Though I suspect he's already done things like…' She added in her thoughts.

Kirche laughed and said, "It's good that you want him for yourself. But I'm not the one you are worrying about, I think."

"What do you mean?"

"Um… perhaps that kitchen maid?"

Louise's eyes shifted.

"Heh, so I was right?"

"N-Not really…"

"If you go to your room now, you might see something interesting."

Louise stood up quickly.

"I thought you didn't like him?" Said Kirche in a playful tone.

"I only forgot something!" cried Louise while dashing off.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Dante remained in Louise's room, shirtless and sitting on the floor, meditating.

News reached back to him of Count Mott's demise.

He already expected this to happen, since he had known how the usual criminal underworld operates, but he never thought that the retaliation would be swift.

Dante would have done worse, if it wasn't for his present 'no killing of humans' policy, and the fact that Louise's family is connected to the said count. That would have been a lot of political shit in which Louise would be dragged into and, maybe attract unwanted attention from a lot of shady folks from nobility.

Dante may be immortal, but Louise and the rest of the people he had known as friends here weren't.

He admits to having done crazy things, but he's not stupid enough to drag his loved ones into trouble.

Hence he had his and the other people involved had their identities remain incognito, through Henrietta's influence.

As it turned out, the Princess has been monitoring the Count's activities. But she withheld where her information came from. She has been gathering evidence to use against the noble. But like the Catfish moniker Dante gave him, he is an extremely slippery customer.

That is, until Dante came and brought a lot of things to light. The slave trading would be hampered, at least for a while.

With the collateral damage Dante had wrought upon the place, not to mention the unspeakable things that happened in the past there, it could easily be said that even the farthest of Mott's relatives don't have the balls to claim the estate.

Then Dante reviewed at how Mott was found. Impaled with a ethereal bastard sword through the head to the blood-spattered dungeon wall, with his limbs slashed off, probably done while he's still alive.

Gruesome, but probably less than he deserved.

With the method of killing, he is sure that the culprit is no other than the man in the blue cloak.

Cobalt.

What is Mott's connection to him?

It is a mystery to him as to how the assassin managed to know that he is of Sparda blood.

Someone knocked on the door, breaking him from his thoughts. Who could it be? If it was Louise, she wouldn't knock. It's probably Guiche or even Kirche?

"It's not locked" said Dante.

The door opened and Siesta popped her head in.

"Oh, hey, Siesta."

"Umm…"

Siesta is overcome with awe as she stared at the devil hunter's well sculpted body specially that beautifully muscled torso. To that extent, she swallowed her saliva to prevent her from drooling…

She was in her usual maid uniform but looked slightly different. Her done up silky black hair dangled on her forehead and the freckles on her face emitted some charm. She was holding a large silver tray, filled with food and a whole pizza pie, besides the toppings he taught her to make.

"Um, you haven't come to the kitchen recently…"

Dante nodded. As he researched more on the world history of Halkeginia as well as the other stuff that required his attention, he visited the kitchen less often.

"So I was worried that you might be hungry…" Siesta said nervously.

Seeing her cute gestures, Dante's heart started feeling strange.

"Thanks. But, I just finished lunch today, so I haven't really been hungry."

"Really? I've been serving the teachers table recently so I didn't notice. If I'm just a being nuisance then…"

Siesta hung her head slightly.

"No, that's not it at all. I'm really happy that you brought me food! I'm actually hungry right now!" Said Dante, even though he was full from eating at the Alviss dining hall just a while ago.

Then again he has a high metabolic rate, so…

"Really?"

Siesta's face brightened.

"Well, eat to your heart's content."

The small table was crammed full of food. Siesta sat next to Dante, smiling. Dante started to hate himself for eating so much before but he couldn't just let Siesta's good intentions go to waste. Determined, he started to eat the food, saving the pizza for last.

"Is it good?" asked Siesta.

"Yeah, it's really good."

He wasn't lying, but it would have been even better if he had been hungry.

"Ehehe, eat all you want then."

Siesta gazed at Dante who was eating in a hungry fashion.

"Sorry, my table manners…"

"N-No, it's not that! It's the opposite. I'm really happy that you like the food so much! The food and the cooks would be really happy!"

Blushing, she wiped her eyes with her hands. Siesta was cute like that. Dante couldn't taste the flavor of the food anymore.

Something in the atmosphere seemed weird.

"I made that one," said Siesta in a shy voice, indicating the pizza.

"Really…"

"Yeah. It was difficult to make it in the kitchen, but because you're eating it, I'm glad I did it."

Dante felt his heart warm inside. 'Siesta was thinking of me.'

At the age of 8 Dante was orphaned. But thanks to a certain gunsmith, he managed to survive till he reached the age of 14. Since he left her guardianship, he had no one to care for him. Living on his own taught him a lot of things…

The gunsmith visited him from time to time, and Dante sometimes goes to her shop in pretence to have another set of guns made for him, which he periodically destroyed, thanks to his inhumane trigger fingers and the insane firing rate that he demanded from his guns.

Thus, the gunsmith designed the Ebony and Ivory just for him.

A memento.

Only during the later part of his life, that he was able to find people who actually care for him…

Trish…

Lady…

Patty…

Then came his inevitable…

He lost himself within his thoughts.

The atmosphere between them was very tense. Siesta suddenly said in a flustered tone, "D-Dante!"

"Y-Yes?"

"Umm."

Siesta paused, as if trying to choose the right words.

"That talk, which we had before, was a lot of fun! Especially about that thing! Um, what was it called? Oh, the airplane!"

Dante nodded. Dante had talked to Siesta about his world and Japan in the bath. Siesta, coming from a village, didn't know much about the world and was able to grasp what Dante had said as though they were things from another country.

"Ah, the airplane."

"Yes! Being able to fly without magic must be wonderful! So even commoners like us, can fly freely in the sky like birds?"

"Isn't there an airship?"

"It only hovers."

"My village is actually a very nice place. It's called Tarbes. It's about three days from here by horse, in the direction of La Rochelle."

Dante listened intently while eating the food.

"It's a very remote village and there's nothing really special there but… it has a very spacious and beautiful field. During the spring, the spring flowers bloom and during the summer, the summer flowers bloom. It's like a sea of flowers, as far as the eye can see, past the horizon. It should be very beautiful at the moment…" Said Siesta, eyes closed as if she were drowning in memories.

"I want to look at that sea of flowers just once in an airplane."

"Sounds nice…"

"Oh, why didn't I think of it before!" cried Siesta who suddenly grasped Dante's hand.

Surprised, Dante nearly fell backwards.

Normally, he won't react like that.

Unfortunately, there's something else bothering him at the moment that the act caught him off guard.

Siesta is acting strange again…

"W-What?"

"Do you want to visit my village Dante?"

"Huh?"

"The princess is getting married right? There's a special holiday for us. It's been quite a long time since I've returned to the village… If it's ok, please come. I want to show you that beautiful field of flowers. My village has this really nice way of cooking stew as well. It's called "Yosenabe". It's made from vegetables that people don't usually use. I really want to let you taste it!"

"Why do you want me to come?"

"…You showed me that there's a possibility," said Siesta, nervously looking downwards.

"A possibility?"

"Yes. A possibility that even commoners can win against nobles. We live in fear of the nobles. Knowing that there are people who don't live like that makes me happy, as if their happiness was my happiness. Everyone in the kitchen believes that as well."

Ever since the one-sided duel with Guiche, Dante has proved that a commoner like him can absolutely kick noble ass. The devil hunter has gained the friendship of many commoners, especially with the kitchen staff…

Well, Dante technically isn't a commoner.

"I want to show such a person to my hometown…" said Siesta.

"I-I see…"

Dante's eyebrow rose.

"Of course, it's not only that. I also want to show Dante the village… But, if I bring a man back suddenly, my family will be shocked. What should I do…"

Suddenly Siesta blushed deeply and whispered, "I can just say you're my husband."

"Seriously?"

Dante was stunned…

'Her boldness spiked up again…' he thought.

"If I say it's because we're getting married, they'll be happy. My mother, father, brother and sister will all be happy."

"Siesta?"

When Siesta glanced at Dante, who was staring at her dumbfounded, she shook her head.

"Sorry! That will be troublesome! I'm not sure if you'll even come! Haha!"

Shaking his head, Dante replied, "Siesta, you're really bold sometimes. Like when we took a bath."

Siesta blushed once again.

"I'm not being bold or anything."

Dante remained silent, as he inwardly sighed.

"When I left home, my mother told me to not show anyone my body except to my chosen man."

'The opportunity…don't screw this up now.' the devil hunter could hear someone's voice ring through his head,

And with that, Siesta reached out and grasped Dante's hand. Dante's usually serious eyes actually bugged out at the realization.

'Oi, oi, what the heck do you mean..' he thought,

This is clearly a reverse proposal with the devil hunter in the other end.

"I would have still showed you if you simply asked." Siesta shyly said, bringing Dante's attention back to her.

Well, she showed it to him without Dante asking anyway.

Dante feels like he isn't the marrying type…yet.

'But there's a first time for everything right?' A female voice, whispered to Dante, a voice that he recognized as the veiled woman's.

"You're joking…right?" Dante said to the maid, looking a bit worried

"It wasn't a joke. Even now…"

"What about now?"

Siesta looked straight into Dante's face.

"Am I not attractive?"

"No, that's not it at all."

She was attractive.

Too attractive.

"Really?"

Siesta continued looking into Dante. Stop, Dante thought, feeling as though he were being drawn into those black eyes.

Something strange is at work here…

'You Damn Author, what the heck are you trying to pull here?' Dante cursed at a certain someone.

"Then why didn't you do anything when we were taking a bath?"

Siesta hid her eyes sadly.

'Ah, don't look like that, I'll feel as though I've done something very bad.'

"…I see, I'm not attractive. You have such a cute girl with you too…That Zerbst is a noble too. I'm just a village girl after all." Said Siesta sadly, sighing.

"No, it's not like that at all!"

It's not like that with Louise. But with Kirche…not so sure…

"Dante."

"You're really attractive. I can guarantee it. You look stunning without clothes on."

'Wait, what the hell did I just say?' Dante asked himself.

Normally those words could get a man beaten up or even killed, but Siesta was glad.

'What the …'

She had been wondering whether to bring in the dessert or not. While Dante was rambling on, she closed her eyes and stood up. With a deep breath, she let her apron fall to the ground.

She decides to be the dessert.

Damn you Dante, for making me do this.

"Siesta…" Dante said, unsure of what to do at the development.

Siesta looked at him calmly. She was the kind of person who would do something well once she had decided to do it. She started to undo the buttons on her blouse one by one.

"Siesta, I don't think it's a good idea!" stated Dante, shaking his head.

Oh, but it is…

One side wants to ravish this gorgeous girl's beautiful body. The other one says to wait to get to know her better. Dante is confused which to follow.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle." Siesta assured him,

'Wait, what did she say?' Dante thought, unbelievable for the devil hunter to have that particular line directed at him in such a manner…

Her blouse was half undone. Her well-sized cleavage captured Dante's vision.

This is too much even for a well-trained woman's man. After all it has been so long... Such a delectable dessert and…you have to be impotent not to…

Dante sprang at Siesta, like a wild beast capturing its prey, but suddenly found himself asking,

'What the heck am I doing?'

"Kya!"

Siesta, whom Dante was grasping by the shoulders, lost her balance and fell onto Louise's bed behind them, as if Dante had pushed her down.

And push her he did…

"Sorry…"

Directly below Dante, Siesta lay with her blouse undone. Siesta put her hands on her chest and closed her eyes.

She's prepared to take on anything…ready for battle…

With superb timing, Louise had opened the door.

'Crap.' Dante cursed himself.

Within ten seconds, various things occurred.

One: Louise noticed that Siesta was pushed onto the bed by Dante.

Two: Louise noticed that Siesta's blouse was undone.

Three: Siesta stood up flustered.

Six: Siesta buttoned up her blouse.

Seven: Siesta dashed out of the room, facing away from Louise.

Eight: Dante cried, "Wait Siesta!"

Nine: Louise regained herself.

Ten: Just as Dante was about to explain what had happened, he felt an intense pain as Louise high kicked him.

And with that, Dante was lying on the floor ten seconds after Louise opened the door.

She's learning from Dante, what do you expect?

Louise stepped on Dante's head. Her voice and body were shaking.

"What exactly were you doing?"

"It's not what it seems, Louise."

Ah, but it is…

'Wait, why am I acting like a wuss?' is this, the effect of what that lady said?

'Fate has rectified the error.'

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Dante suddenly found himself kicked out of Louise's room.

'I suppose it must have come from her incoming growth spurt… I guess this time, it'll take a while to cool her off…' he shrugs and walks through the Academy halls,

"So where are we heading partner?" the sword asked.

"To your place. Where else?" the devil hunter said, walking out of the Academy gates, where he summons the Sleipnir and rides off.

But not before sending a certain devil arm to watch over the girl, who will alert him of her whereabouts.

Meet Argus, the watchman devil arm Dante brought from hell, which now took a form of a floating security video camera with serpent-like eyes.

"Watch her carefully."

The devil arm gives an action similar to a nod and fades into the air,

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Later…

Louise had been skipped class and stayed in her bed, worrying endlessly. She was thinking about the summoned being she drove out.

Suddenly a knock came from the door. The first thought she had was that Dante had finally returned. Her sadness turned to joy, and within that joy she felt anger. Why am I glad he's back? I should not let him back in for coming back so late.

The door opened. Louise jumped up and cried angrily.

"Idiot! Where have you…eh?"

It was Kirche who had come in. Brushing her flaming hair, she smiled at Louise.

"It's only me, sorry."

"What are you doing here?"

Louise went back to her bed. Kirche walked briskly to the bed and sat down. She threw away the blanket at once, revealing Louise curled up, sulking, in her negligee.

"You've been absent today, so I came to see you."

Kirche sighed heavily. Having a good conscience really did have its pains. She didn't think Louise would drive him out of the room. She thought it would be good for the two to have a fight and separate from each other a bit, but she didn't think Louise would go this far.

"So, what are you planning to do, now that you've driven Dante out of your room?"

"None of your business."

Kirche looked at Louise coldly. On her rosy cheeks, there were rivulet vestiges of tears. She had probably been crying for a while now.

"I knew you were foolishly arrogant and proud but I didn't think you were this cold hearted. They were just eating together."

"It wasn't only just that, of all things they were on my bed…" Louise muttered.

"Were they in each other's arms?"

Louise nodded. Kirche was quite shocked. To make a move on a girl who came to bring him food… Dante was pretty good.

"Well, seeing the guy you like with a girl on your own bed must be quite a shock."

"I don't like him that way! It's just that they were on my bed…"

"That's just an excuse. You drove him out because you like him, and you were angry with him."

Kirche's words had hit the mark, but she now knows that she likes him as an older brother, even a father to an extent. The thing is, she just can't imagine Dante…doing things like that. Louise then pouted her lips.

"I can't say I didn't see it coming. It's because you didn't give him anything. It's only natural he'd go flirt with another girl."

'That's not it.' Louise thought, remaining silent.

"La Vallière, you're a strange girl you know. You're angry at and crying over a guy who you won't even kiss. You can't win him like that…" said Kirche in a bored tone while standing up.

"I'll do something about Dante. I was looking forward to taking Dante away from you… but you hit him, and kicked him, and drove him out, I actually feel quite sorry for him. He's not just some toy you know."

Louise bit her lips. She's right, and for some reason, Dante has been pretty accommodating to him as of late, unlike their first encounter.

That Creature that superimposed him when he got angry still haunted her. But she unconsciously kicks him like a commoner.

If he was the Dante of earlier, she's probably ended up shredded by his blade.

"A familiar is a mage's partner. You fail as a mage because you can't treat him properly. Well… you are zero after all."

And with that, Kirche left. Louise didn't reply. She crawled back onto her bed, full of sorrow and regret, and cried like she used to when she was small.

'I'm officially an idiot.' She reflects.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

By the time Kirche had come to Dante's hangout in what was once called the Howling Grove, it was late at night already. Dante's unusually harsh voice could be heard within the small cave. Flame's "Kyuru kyuru" could also be heard in the tent. It must have come here to play when she had gone out to the streets.

Kirche went in. The scene inside was surprising. Dante had Guiche perform push-ups with a bed of long sharp spikes just inches below. The boy's tears can be clearly seen as he tries his best not to get impaled as he did his exercises. Dante, along with Flame provided the additional weight to the poor boy as the devil hunter had his legs stretched on the boy's upper back, while the salamander curled itself at the remaining space on top of the boy.

It's a wonder how the boy managed to hold all that weight…

"Come on! You've got to do better than that! Just 100 more before you get to 1000 pushups!" shouted Dante, whipping the boy across the back with a stick, eliciting a girly cry from the boy. The whack is enough for the boy to perform the push-ups like a piston at full-speed.

It seems Dante spent his free time training Guiche.

So that's where he went, she was also wondering why the blonde boy was missing from class. Not that he can't afford to.

'If that is what Dante is into, I don't mind being his 'toy'…' Kirche drooled at the thought. But she has more important thing to do today.

"I didn't even do anything with that Katie. She held my hand, and I had only lightly kissed Mortmerncy! Despite that, I-!" Guiche burst into tears.

He was actually here to vent out his troubles. But instead, he found himself training, again.

Kirche sighed. Why do men have to be such idiots? Derflinger noticed Kirche and informed Dante.

"Gentlemen, there's a guest."

"Guest?"

Dante looked boredly at Kirche.

"Kirche?"

"Looks fun, can I join?" Said Kirche, with a smile on her face.

Dante, who felt a bit naughty, grinned stupidly by the sight of the girl.

He faced Kirche.

"Those large tits, if you show me them, you can join."

Guiche wanted to clap his hands in agreement, but as he was a bit busy, he did the next best thing.

"I absolutely agree! In the name of Tristain's nobles! I totally agree!" he said.

"Continue with the training, you idiot!" Dante deadpanned as he planted a heel on the back of the boy's head.

Like as she may to stay and play, she had something important to say. There is no other way to get his sway, but to…

Instead of replying, Kirche took out her wand and started reciting an incantation.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

"Do I have your complete attention now?"

Dante and Guiche, who were both sitting straight now, nodded.

Everything around them was scorched. Even they were scorched. Kirche's fire magic made the two guys' hair and clothes ragged looking.

Dante had heard of water being a good trick to use to get someone's attention, but fire would work just as well.

Trust me, I don't get it either...

Good thing he could heal fast, as well as his clothes...

"Well then, get ready to leave."

"Get ready to leave?"

Guiche and Dante looked at each other.

Dante shrugs, and turns to the busty redhead.

"Yes. Hey Dante." Kirche called him by his name instead of darling.

While Kirche caressed Dante's cheek, she said, "Don't you want to become a noble?"

"A noble, huh?"

Guiche was slightly taken aback.

"But Kirche, Master's a commoner. He can't be a noble since he's not a mage."

"In Tristain that is. By law, commoners are strictly forbidden to purchase land or become nobles."

"Exactly."

"But, in Germania it's different. If you have money, even if you're a commoner, you can buy land and become a noble, or buy the rights to a position and become a tax collector or a commander.

"And that's why they call Germania uncivilized." Said Guiche as though he were feeling sick.

"Uncivilized? People who are fussed over traditions and customs like 'if you're not a mage you can't be a noble', which make their country weak, have no right to talk. It's the reason why Tristain has to ally with Germania to be able to oppose Albion.

Dante, who had been quietly listening, finally opened his mouth.

"Um, so Kirche. What you're saying is that I should become a noble through money, in your country?"

"Exactly that."

Dante is filthy rich as of the moment, but said,

"We could do just that, but then again, becoming a noble in such a manner could be considered cheating by my standards. What I need is a challenge."

"I thought you would say that, and that's what these are for."

Kirche tapped Dante's face with a bundle of parchment.

"What's that?"

Guiche and Dante looked at the bundle. They seemed like maps.

"They're treasure maps."

"Treasure?" Guiche said, surprised.

'Really...'

"Yes, we're going to go treasure hunting and sell the treasure we find. Dante… you can use that to become a noble back home."

Dante raised an eyebrow. Kirche was embracing Dante, with her breasts pushing against him.

Dante didn't mind the attention.

"When you become a noble… you can propose to me ok? I like guys like you. I don't care if you're a commoner or a noble. People who can overcome insurmountable difficulties, do and obtain things beyond people's imagination… I like people like that." said Kirche, who was smiling seductively.

Guiche, who was looking at the map, whispered doubtingly, "No matter how I look at it, these maps seem a bit suspicious…"

"I got them from various places like magic shops, stalls, general stores…"

"It's definitely something dodgy. I know of a few people who just sell ordinary maps, calling them treasure maps. There are even nobles who become bankrupt because of these hoaxes."

"That attitude won't do!" Said Kirche, with her hands clenched into tight fists.

"Most of them might be scrap, but there might be a real one hidden inside there."

"Gah…" Guiche groaned while slapping his forehead.

"Dante, let's go. Let's go find treasure and leave Louise… and then you'll propose to me, ok?"

'Abandoning Louise…That I will not do, but…'

And of course the wanderlust seems to be pulling him towards deciding…

And a toss of the coin decides for him…

With the result, Dante made up his mind.

"Alright, I'm in. Let's go!"

Kirche hugged Dante tightly. Suddenly someone burst in.

"Nononono, you can't do that!"

"Siesta?"

Before them was Siesta in her maid outfit.

'Wait, why is she here?' Dante wondered.

"You can't marry, Dante!"

Siesta pulled on Dante.

Apparently not actually wondering how the maid managed to appear in such a place as the Howling Grove, Kirche asked the maid, "Don't you wish the man you love to be happy?"

Siesta was taken aback by Kirche's words and looked at Dante. She suddenly shook her head.

"Just because you're a noble doesn't necessarily mean you're happy. You can stay at my village, and buy a vineyard with that money!"

"A vineyard?"

"In my village, there are a lot of good vineyards! We can make nice wine together! Its brand name could be Dante's Siesta!"

'Hmm…has a nice ring to it.' Dante thought,

Kirche and Siesta were both pulling on Dante. Ever since he got stuck in hell, it was the first time that he was fought over by girls.

He has no idea that there is a private war going on among the young ladies of the academy, who should propose to the devil hunter first… but never quite getting close to the white-haired 'gentleman' in question. They always seem to reach orgasm before they get close enough to talk to him for some reason.

Who cares…Back to the scene…

"As if you'd find treasure." Guiche said in a bored tone.

He is actually jealous of his Master's good luck with the girls, that is one reason he is training hard to at least get past his limits.

"Guiche. If we find treasure you can give it to the Princess as a present and perhaps she will see you in a different light."

Guiche stood up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's go."

"Take me along please!" Siesta called out. If she didn't go along, there would be no doubt that Kirche would seduce Dante.

Unfortunately, with the devil hunter's nature, he won't refuse…

"No, you can't. Commoners are just a burden."

"Don't treat me like an idiot! Even though I look like this, I'm…"

Siesta was shaking. Both her hands were clenched tightly together.

"Yes? Go on."

"I can cook!"

"As if we didn't know," everyone said in synch.

"But, but, meals are important right? While we're searching for treasure, we'll be camping right? We can't just rely on the food we bring. I could make good food for everyone."

'Well she was right on that point. Guiche and Kirche were both nobles and couldn't stand eating bad food.' Dante thought,

"But you have work to do right? Are you just going to take a break?"

"The cook always lets me leave if I say I'm doing something for Dante."

The head chef really liked Dante; he would probably do exactly as Siesta had said.

"Fine, do what you want. But I'll tell you beforehand, the ruins, forests and caves we're heading to are dangerous places. There are lots of monsters there."

"I'll be fine, Dante will protect me!"

And with that, Siesta grabbed Dante's arm, leading the maid to fantasizing about her naked breasts pressing against devil hunter.

And vice-versa,

She inevitably drooled at the thought.

Dante just sighed.

Kirche nodded and turned to everyone.

"After the preparations are done we're heading off!"

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Meanwhile at school, later that night, Louise couldn't sleep.

She knew that Dante stayed at the Howling Grove the day she kicked him out.

So she went down there earlier to see how he was doing, but no one was there. Then she received a letter from Kirche saying that they will be skipping classes, treasure hunting with Guiche, Tabitha…and Dante…

The teachers were obviously mad upon learning about it and would make them clean the whole auditorium when they got back.

She felt even sadder when she thought how fun it must have been. She felt as though she was the only one being left out.

Louise cried in her bed. Whenever she saw the empty couch, tears would come to her eyes.

A knock came from the door. The door opened with a clank as soon as Louise replied that it wasn't locked. The school headmaster Old Osman was at the door, which surprised Louise. Louise quickly put on her gown and got off her bed.

"How have you been feeling?"

Feeling down, Louise replied, "I'm sorry I've made you worry. It's really nothing. I just don't feel very well…"

Osman pulled out a chair and sat down.

"You've rested for quite a long time. I was worried, but it seems you're alright."

Louise nodded, and sat down on a chair. With a weary face, she stared out the window.

"Have you finished the edict?"

Louise gasped and hung her head. With a sorry expression, she shook her head.

"Seems like you haven't by the looks of it."

"I'm sorry."

"There's still two weeks. Think about it slowly. It's your important friend's wedding after all. Make sure you choose your words carefully."

Louise nodded. She was ashamed that she had forgotten about the edict because she was so absorbed with her own thoughts. "I'm terrible aren't I? She considers me as a friend, and even gave the role of being the maiden."

Osman stood up.

"By the way, where's Dante?"

She averted her eyes and kept silent. Osman smiled… Obviously, he knew the answer…

"Did you two have a fight?"

Louise remained silent.

"When you're young, you fight about trivial things. It's because young people don't know how to compromise. Sometimes, these cracks will develop into something irreparable. You should be careful."

Laughing, Osman left the room. After the door shut behind him, Louise reflects on what the old man said.

Louise went to her desk. She ignored everything else and opened the Founder's Prayer Book. And as if clearing her thoughts, she closed her eyes. She concentrated, trying to think of an edict. I must think of a great edict for Henrietta.

Louise kept her eyes closed. Eh? There was a bright light. Suddenly she could see letters on the pages. Louise's eyes froze. However, in the next moment, they faded from the pages like mist. What was that? She thought, while looking at the pages.

I can't see it anymore. My eyes are probably just tired, she thought.

"It's all Dante's fault" she whispered.

Suddenly, the windows to her veranda, was burst open, and a crimson figure appears.

"Come on, kid, you're coming along too." Dante said, picking up the pinkette by the collar of her uniform, much like how one picks up a kitten, as well as a few necessities for the girl.

"Wait, what?"

"We're taking a vacation." Dante grins…

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Another place...

The Albion air force's arsenal was located in the outskirts of its capital, Londinium, in the town of Rosyth. Before the Revolutionary War (which is what the Reconquista call the civil war that had just ended recently), that place used to be called the Royal air force's arsenal. And thus, there were all sorts of buildings. The numerous buildings with massive chimneys were used for manufacturing iron. Next to them were piles and piles of timber used for ship constructions and repairs.

The large red brick building was the control center. The three colored flag of Reconquista could be seen fluttering proudly. But the thing that stood out most was the large battleship which seemed to reach the skies.

The Lexington, the flagship of the fleet, was anchored and covered by a cloth, similar to a large tent, to protect it from rain. The warship stretched across two hundred meters, and was placed on top of a large wooden board so that it could be remodeled as soon as possible.

The king of Albion, Oliver Cromwell, was observing the construction along with some attendants.

"What a big, dependable looking ship. With a ship like this, doesn't it feel like we can rule the world, chief rigger?"

"You speak too highly of me."

The chief rigger appointed to the fleet led by the Lexington, Sir Henry Bowood, replied half heartedly. He was on the Reconquista's side and was the commander of the cruisers during the revolutionary war. Credited with destroying two enemy ships, he was promoted to chief rigger of the Lexington. He was to assume the position of captain when the remodeling was completed. It was one of the customs of the Albion air force.

"Look at those big cannons!"

Cromwell pointed at the cannons on the side of the ship.

"These new weapons are like the symbol of trust I have placed upon you. These were made by gathering Albion's alchemists. They have an extended body, which according to the calculations…"

The longhaired blonde woman next to Cromwell replied, "They have a firing range of approximately 1.5 times that of the cannons used on Tristain and Germania warships."

"Thank you, Miss Sheffield."

Bowood looked at Sheffield. She emitted a somewhat cold atmosphere. She was around her mid-twenties and wore a neat, thin black coat, under which are strange, black, figure hugging clothes. He had never seen such a weird appearance. She wasn't wearing a mantle… was she even a mage?

Cromwell nodded with satisfaction and patted Bowood on the back.

"She's from Rub' al Khali. She designed these cannons from the technology she learned from the elves. Her insights in technology… do not follow our magic arts. She possesses knowledge of technology that is new to us. You should get to know each other."

Bowood nodded in a bored manner. He was actually a royalist, but he strongly believed that soldiers should not get involved in politics. In other words, he was a purely militaristic person. The fleet commander, who outranked him, had joined the rebel army, and so he had no choice but to participate in the revolutionary war as a captain of the Reconquista fleet. For him, who had exerted his utmost for the sake of upholding Albion's tradition - Noblesse oblige, a noble duty, Albion was still a mere kingdom. Cromwell was someone despicable who had just seized power and the throne.

"There probably isn't a fleet on Halkeginia that can match the power of our Royal Sovereign fleet now," Bowood had purposefully called the fleet by its old name. Noticing his cynicism, Cromwell smiled.

"Mr. Bowood. The Royal Sovereign no longer exists in Albion."

"True. However, if you attend the wedding ceremony with these new cannons, I'm afraid it will probably be seen as a vulgar demonstration of power."

Cromwell, the first holy king and president of the council of nobles, and the cabinet ministers of The Republic of the Holy Albion (Albion's new name) were to attend the wedding ceremony of the Tristain princess and the prince of Germania. They were to travel by the Lexington fleet.

Bringing new models of weapons for a visit of good will would be seen as something along the lines of gunboat diplomacy.

Cromwell replied casually, "Ah yes, I haven't explained the scheme for this 'good willed visit' to you, have I?"

"Scheme?"

Another conspiracy? Bowood felt a headache coming.

Cromwell softly whispered in Bowood's ears.

"What? I haven't heard of such a disgraceful act in all my life!"

"It's all a part of military movements," said Cromwell, uncaringly.

"Didn't we just recently sign a non-aggression treaty with Tristain! In Albion's long history, we haven't broken a single treaty!" shouted an enraged Bowood.

"Mr. Bowood. I shall not forgive you for any further political criticisms. This is something that the council has decided upon and approved. Do you plan on going against the council? Since when did you become a politician?"

With that, Bowood was speechless. To him, soldiers were swords and shields that did not object. They were the faithful watchdogs of the country, and proud ones at that. If it was a decision from someone of higher rank, then they could only follow those orders.

"You will soil our country's name throughout Halkeginia. Our country will be known for cowardly breaking treaties." Said Bowood, disturbed.

"Soil the country's name? All of Halkeginia shall be ruled under our Reconquista flag. When we regain the holy lands from the elves, no one will care about such trivial matters."

Bowood drew close to Cromwell.

"Breaking a treaty is something trivial? Do you plan on betraying even your own country?"

A nearby man pulled out his wand and restrained Bowood. Bowood could recognize the face hidden underneath the hood.

"Y-Your highness?" a shocked Bowood whispered.

The face was of Prince Wales, who had died in battle.

"Captain, I wonder if you would be able to say those words to your once superior officer?"

Bowood dropped down to his knees. Wales reached out his hands and kissed Bowood. He became pale. Those hands were as cold as ice.

Cromwell walked out with his attendants. Wales also followed suit. The only one left was Bowood, standing still, shocked. Wales, who had died, was living and moving. Bowood was a triangular mage in the water arts. Even he, an expert in water magic, which governed the composition of living things, had not heard of a spell that could bring life to someone once dead.

Perhaps it was a golem? No, that body was filled with life. Being a user in the water branch, he knew perfectly well the flow of water inside living things, including that of Wales.

It was definitely an unknown form of magic. And Cromwell could control it. He remembered a convincing rumor he had heard, and started to shake.

That the holy king Cromwell could control "Void"…

Was that just Void magic?

…The legendary "Zero" branch of magic.

Or is it something else…

With a shaking voice, Bowood whispered, "…What the hell is he planning to do to Halkeginia?"

Cromwell spoke with the noble walking alongside him.

"Master Cobalt, join the Lexington fleet as the commander of the dragoons."

Under the hooded cloak, Cobalt' eyes gleamed.

"Are you telling me to keep an eye on him?"

He shook his head, rejecting Cobalt's presumption.

"That man won't betray us. He's too stubborn and straightforward, which is why we can trust him. I'm just lending him your power, seeing as you led the magic defense squad once. Have you ever ridden a dragon before?"

"No. But there is no beast in Halkeginia that I cannot master."

Cromwell smirked in agreement. He suddenly turned to Cobalt.

"Master Cobalt, why do you obey me?"

"Do you doubt my loyalty?"

"Not at all. You yield such fine results yet you have no requests."

Cobalt laughed lightly. He mockingly salutes the 'King' with a heavily bandaged right arm.

"I only want to see the thing your Excellency will show me."

"The holy lands?"

Cobalt nodded.

"I believe what I'm searching for lies there."

"You 'believe'? You really don't have any desires, do you?" Said Cromwell.

Cromwell was originally a clergyman, but he didn't have a speck of faith in him.

Cobalt cast his eyes downwards on an old silver locket. Inside was a drawn portrait of a beautiful with long strawberry blonde haired woman in a red summer dress, whose calm smile seemed more real as one would look at her.

His heart, which always appeared cold to people around him, started to warm up. After looking at the small portrait, he whispered, "No, your Excellency. I'm a man who desires the most in this world."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Meanwhile in Henrietta's room, inside the royal palace of Tristain, servants were busy sewing the wedding dress Henrietta was to wear. Marianne, the queen, was also there. She watched with a smile while her daughter was dressed in a pure white dress. However, Henrietta's expression was like that of ice. When the servants sewing asked her things about the sleeves and the position of the waist, she simply nodded. Watching her daughter in that state, Marianne dismissed the servants.

"My dear daughter, you don't seem well."

"Mother."

Henrietta buried her face in her mother's knees.

"I understand you don't want this wedding."

"No, it's not that at all. I'm a happy person. I'm able to marry. Didn't you once say that a woman was happy if she got to marry?"

In contrast to her words, Henrietta's beautiful face became miserable and she started crying in grief. Marianna patted her daughter's head gently.

"You have someone you love?"

"I had someone I loved. It's like I'm flowing in a very fast river. Everything has passed by me. Love, kind words… nothing remains now."

Marianne shook her head.

"Love is like the measles. If you cool down, you will forget about it."

"How can I possibly forget…"

"You are a princess. You must forget what you must forget. The people will be uneasy if they see you like this." Said Marianne in an admonishing tone.

"What am I marrying for?" Henrietta asked sadly.

"For the future."

"For the future of…the country and the people?"

Marianne shook her head.

"It's also for your future as well. Cromwell of the Reconquista, who's in control of Albion, is an ambitious man. According to what I've heard, he has control over 'Void'."

"Isn't that the legendary branch of magic?"

"Yes. If it is the truth, then it would be dreadful, Henrietta. Having too much power corrupts people. Even though we have a non-aggression treaty, a man like him won't just look down at Halkeginia from the skies obediently. It's better for you to be in a powerful country, like Germania."

Henrietta embraced her mother.

"…Forgive me Mother for being so selfish."

"It's alright. Love is everything at your age. It's not like I don't understand."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Some days later… Somewhere…

Tabitha hid beside a tree with her breath held. In front of her was a temple that had been reduced to ruins. Columns that once boasted magnificence had collapsed and fences had rusted away. Bright stained glass windows had been shattered, and weeds filled the garden. It was the temple of a pioneering village that had been abandoned decades ago. It was completely desolate; no one was close by. However, when the sunlight shone upon it, there was a somewhat pastoral atmosphere to the place. The place would probably be where travellers would set up for lunch or the like.

A loud explosion suddenly broke the calm atmosphere. Kirche had set a tree next to the gatepost on fire. Tabitha, in the shade of the trees, gripped her wand. The reason why the pioneering village had been abandoned came dashing out. It was an orc.

This creature was two meters tall and weighed about five times that of an average human. Its fat ugly body was covered by skin peeled off from animals. With a large nose on its face, it looked much like a pig. In fact, you could say that it was a pig that stood on two legs.

There were around ten of them. Orcs liked human children, and being attacked by a group of creatures with such troublesome tastes, the villagers abandoned the village and fled from it. The villagers told the lord of the area, but the lord disliked dispatching soldiers in forests, and so ignored their requests. This village was one of the many villages in Halkeginia that had had this happen.

The orc conversed with the others through sounds similar to that of a pig, while pointing at the fire blazing around the gatepost. It then yelled angrily at every one of them.

"Fugii! Pigii! Agii! Nguiiii!"

Waving the clubs in their hands, the orcs were obviously angry. There was a fire, which meant humans were nearby. They were enemies, and the fire was bait. Watching this, Tabitha considered which spell she would use. There were more enemies than she had expected. She couldn't continuously fire spells out. If they didn't carry everything out smoothly, they could easily lose the advantage of their surprise attack.

Just then, the air around the orcs shimmered and seven bronze maidens appeared before them. They were Guiche's golems. Tabitha knitted her eyebrows. That wasn't what they had decided on. Guiche must have gotten impatient.

Guiche's seven Valkyries charged at the head orc. They thrust their short spears at it. The tip of the spears sank into the orc's stomach and the orc was knocked back onto the ground. However, the wound was shallow. Its thick skin and fat had acted as its shield, protecting its internal organs from damage. It quickly stood back up, and waved its club, ignoring its small wound. The other orcs rushed over with their clubs, swinging them at the bronze maidens. The clubs the orcs were swinging were about the size of a human. One hit on the delicate golems, and they would be sent flying, broken on the ground.

Tabitha started reciting an incantation while waving her wand. Water, wind, wind. One water and two winds. The two elements intertwined with each other and the spell was complete. The vapor in the air froze and became several icicles. They skewered the wounded orc from all directions. It was one of Tabitha's strongest attacks, 'Windy Icicle'. The wounded orc fell to the ground at once.

Kirche, who was watching on top of a tree that was separated by a fair distance from Tabitha's hiding spot, waved her wand. Fire, Fire. Two fires. A ball of fire, larger than a normal fireball spell, attacked the orcs. It was the 'Flame Ball' spell. With agile movements that didn't seem possible for their size, they tried avoiding the ball of fire. However, as if it were attached to a string, the ball of fire was homing. It shot inside an orc's howling mouth, and its head burst into flames. However, that was the end of such effective spells. They couldn't keep using such strong spells.

The orcs were scared, but they realized they were being attacked by only a few mages. After realizing this, they remembered a long battle they had with humans once. If they lost, they would lose in an instant. However, only two of them were killed by magic so far. This means, the human's attack had failed.

Their anger overcame their fear. Their sharp noses twitched, trying to find the humans. Young, delicious smelling humans could be smelt from outside the temple's garden. The orcs ran at once. Suddenly a person with swords carried on his back appeared. Next to him was a fire salamander. Without hesitation the orcs continued to charge forward. The salamander would be a strong foe, but with only the two, it would be no problem. The human warrior wasn't even a going to be a problem. It is said that one orc can match five human warriors. And that is for skilled warriors. A single man like this would be disposed of with one swing of the club.

Dante whispered to the salamander next to him.

"I'll attack them from the right. Stop any of those monsters from reaching Kirche and Tabitha."

Fire flickered from the tip of the mouth of the fiery lizard, and it nodded with a "kyuru kyuru."

The large pigs formed groups to attack. They were trying to intimidate them. Dante just stood there waiting for them to attack.

The orcs were wearing necklaces. After a better glance, it could be seen that it were necklaces made from a straw rope and human skulls. The beasts' horrible stench could be smelt.

With unshakeable confidence, Dante grabbed Derflinger in one hand, Rebellion in the other.

"C'mon partner, let's get them already." The sword crowed,

Dante opened his eyes, and gazed at three dozen orcs who were roaring towards him.

He smirked.

An orc swung its club at the man. It was a hit… It should have been that is. But its club only hit the ground. It tried raising its head to see its surroundings, but its vision slipped down. Its neck wouldn't move. Its hands reached desperately for its head only to find that it was missing.

Dante had moved faster than the orc's swing, and had cleaved off its head.

"These things are not even that challenging." Dante chuckled,

The decapitated orc tumbled to the ground. Dante effortlessly leapt at a pair of nearby orcs. In an instant, he cut down the stunned beasts. With the force of his swords he finished it off, sliced beyond recognition.

To the left, the fiery lizard was battling an orc, scattering fire everywhere. Flame overpowered the orc and sent a blaze of inferno to its head.

Losing three allies already, the remaining orcs surrounded Dante cautiously.

With his swords ready, Dante stared at the orcs with a cold gaze. It was as if a dragon was glaring them at. Their instincts told them that he was dangerous. It told them that they couldn't win against him. The orcs looked at each other.

But, it was just a human. They couldn't possibly lose. It must have been a mistake just then. Ignoring their instinct, experience and common sense, they roared and went in for an all out attack.

That was one stupid move for them.

Dante kicked the first attacking orc down and jumped on top of it. For some reason, the momentum created from the jump made the fallen orc slide forward, towards the rest of the attacking orcs, taking Dante along for the ride. Dante then wildly shoots the rest of the orcs as he and his ride spun like a top, tearing lead as well as slashing through the ranks of enemies like dervish, while the devil hunter laughed like mad.

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Derflinger shouts in excitement. As the sword enjoyed the ride as well.

Dante's wild ride ends with the devil hunter leaping out before the creature hits a large rock, hard.

The orc slowly rises, trying to shake the cobwebs from its head.

Too late.

In a flash of a second, the last orc got turned to minced meat, literally, via Million Slash combo, courtesy of Derflinger and Rebellion.

And so, orcs lost their lives, without actually realizing it…

"That was Awesome! Scratch that, it was Smoking Sick!" Derflinger declared ecstatically, "Do it again!"

Tabitha's dragon landed on the ground. If the wind dragon had been hurt, it would mean that they would have to walk home, so they decided she wasn't allowed in the battle, along with Louise, who's still trying to think of an edict for the Princess' wedding.

Coming down from the dragon, Louise gave Guiche a shove.

"Ouch! What are you doing?"

"What the heck are you doing? If Dante wasn't here, who knows what might happen to us?"

The plan was to lure them into a pit that Verdandi had dug and light the oil that was prepared in that pit. All the orcs would then burn to their deaths.

"As if they would just all fall into a pit like that. The first to make a move wins. I only put that into practice." grumbled Guiche.

"Your mole dug it right? Have some faith!"

"Well, we're all ok, so it's fine," said Dante, surveying the ruins.

Siesta, who was hiding and shaking, rushed over to Dante and hugged him, overcome with emotion.

"That was incredible! Killing those violent orcs in no time at all! You're incredible Dante!"

Siesta then timidly glanced at the corpses of the orcs.

"With these around I guess you can't really go calmly pick mushrooms in the forest." She commented

'So that's where you found those.' Dante thought,

He will probably ask her later on how to pick up the right mushrooms in the forest.

The last time he tried that, he got the wrong bunch put on his pizza and ended up spending the whole weekend on a coma with his mind tripping on the idea that Dante's character image has been rebooted many times from an emo looking punk junkie teen rip-off from Twilight, to becoming over muscled like Arnold Schwarzenegger, to ending up looking and speaking very much like Samuel L. Jackson.

"You dig this shit, Motherfucker?"

He never tried to putting mushrooms on pizza again.

Maybe with Siesta's help…

Putting that weird memory off his head, he focused on the thing at hand.

The devil hunter wiped off the blood and fat stuck on Derflinger and Rebellion with his magic.

'That was too easy,' he thought.

But at least he got Guiche to practice his mage craft, and has promised the boy to teach him some melee skills during the trip.

It is time.

It would prove useful to the boy when the time comes.

Meanwhile, despite the battle, Kirche acted as if nothing had happened. Looking at the map, she said, "Um, within the temple there's an altar… and beneath that altar there's a hidden chest."

"And within that chest…"

Guiche gulped.

"Lies the gold and silver and legendary treasure 'Brisingamen' that the priest hid when he abandoned the temple, apparently."

Kirche brushed her hair triumphantly.

"What's a Brisingamen?" asked Guiche.

Kirche read the notes on the map.

"Umm, it seems like it's a necklace made of gold. It's made from 'blazing gold'! Wow, even the name makes me excited. When you wear it you will be protected from any disaster and…"

That night… they crowded around a bonfire in the garden of the temple. Everyone except Dante had a weary face. Guiche said bitterly, "So the so called treasure was that?"

Guiche pointed at a color faded accessory and a few dirty copper coins. Underneath the altar, there was a chest. However, it was full of junk that they didn't even consider taking back home.

"This is made of brass. These cheap necklaces and ear rings, these aren't that 'Brisingamen' right?"

Kirche didn't reply. She just filed her nails with a bored look. Tabitha was reading a book as usual. Louise was still trying to write an edict, and till failing. Dante was lying down, gazing at the moon.

Louise was annoyed at the sorry state of her progress that, she suddenly stood up, and shouts at the busty redhead, just to vent her anger…

"Hey Kirche, that's the seventh one already! We followed those maps with such effort and yet all we get are a few copper coins! The treasures aren't even close to what the notes of the maps say! Those maps are all hoaxes!"

"Shut up half-pint. I said it before; there might be a real map within that bundle. Besides you're not going anywhere with your so-called edict as well."

That sent Louise shaking in anger…

"It's too mean! Monsters and beasts dwell in ruins and caves after all! Only getting this in return for defeating monsters is far from enough!" the blond boy complained.

Guiche held the artificial rose in his mouth and lay down on a spread out blanket.

Louise sighed…

It is useless to keep this conversation up…

"Well yeah. If you could get treasure by just simply killing monsters, then no one would be poor." Kirche said, still looking at a set of maps.

The irony isn't lost to the devil hunter.

'Well, there are instances…' Dante thought, referring to how he managed to gain his riches…

A gloomy atmosphere drifted amongst them. But Siesta's cheerful voice drove it away.

"Everyone, dinner's ready!"

Siesta started dividing the stew for everyone from the pot on the bonfire. It smelled good.

"This is good! Wow, it's really good. What kind of meat did you use?" Guiche asked while stuffing his mouth full.

Everyone else tasted it and started to say how delicious it was. Siesta smiled and said, "Orc's meat."

Guiche suddenly spat out the stew. Everyone stared slack jawed at Siesta.

"I-It was a joke! I made it from a wild rabbit. I caught it with a trap."

Siesta went on to explain how she had set up traps to catch rabbits and partridges, and collected herbs and vegetables for the stew, while everyone else was hunting for treasure.

"Don't scare me like that. But, you're really handy, being able to make something so nice from things in a forest." said Kirche in a relieved tone.

"It comes from living in a village," said Siesta shyly.

"What's this stew called? The herbs you've used are quite different from usual. I've never even seen some of these vegetables." said Louise while playing one of the vegetables on her fork.

"It's a stew that's made in my village, called Yosenabe." Explained Siesta while stirring the pot.

"My father taught me how to make it. From edible wild plants, roots of plants… My father learned it from my grandmother. It's now a specialty in my village."

Thanks to the delicious food, they felt more relaxed. Ten days had passed since they had left the school. As Dante gazed up at the sky, he wondered of what that organization is planning to do next. But he had a feeling that they'll be coming after Tristain next.

Then he thought of the assassin in blue, he seemed to exude a rather strange but somewhat familiar aura…

'Cobalt, just who the hell are you?' Dante reflects.

"Is it good, Dante?"

Next to him, Siesta smiled warmly, taking him away from his thoughts. Stuffing his mouth full with stew, he smiled back. Siesta's smile, the taste of the stew, they both reminded him of something he long thought to have forgotten about.

He had no idea how long he had been away since he went to hell but Dante still remembers a certain person who asked him that very same question.

It has been long since he had a simple dinner like his...

／人◕ . ◕人＼

After dinner…

Two figures could be seen talking under the moonlit trees…

"I suppose you deserve a chance to explain yourself. If you have anything you want to say, then say it now."

It seems like the pinkette still hasn't forgotten about that after all…

"What is there to explain? I didn't do anything. This is about Siesta right? Siesta was just about to fall down so I tried to catch her. I then fell down as well, making it look as if I had pushed her down onto the bed."

The real reason was because Siesta had suddenly started to take off her clothes, but for Siesta's sake he didn't say that.

That and the point where he nearly had his way on the girl,

'Oh well, there's always the next time, right Author?' Dante thought sending the message to a certain someone…

"Then, nothing really happened?"

"Nothing. Why were you so angry? That was the first time she came to the room. As if something like that would happen. Why were you angry, anyway? What I and Siesta do is none of your business, right?" said Dante.

"It's none of my business, but in some ways it is."

"Which one is it?"

Louise glared at Dante and groaned.

Louise tugged at his sleeve. She was whispering things like "Hey, apologize" and "Why are you being so uptight, you made me so worried", but Dante wasn't looking at Louise anymore.

He was looking at the moon in contemplation.

Louise had jumped to her own conclusions. She was ashamed that she had shut herself in her room and sulked before the 'kidnapping'. She drew out the deadly technique she had been saving. It was a girl's secret technique, which would sweep away any suspicion, anger, contradiction, and even the fact that Louise drove Dante out.

She burst into tears.

Buckets of tears came streaming down from her eyes.

"Idiot! Always making me worry, I hate you!"

Sniffling, she wiped the streaming tears with the back of her hand.

"H-Hey, don't cry."

Panicking, Dante placed his hands on Louise's shoulder. Louise cried even harder.

'Girls…' Dante sighed,

"I hate you! I hate you!"

'Dammit!' he swore inwardly, trying to make the girl to stop crying.

Unfortunately, he's not succeeding.

Kirche approached them, holding a bunch of maps in her arms.

Guiche looked at Dante, who was comforting Louise, and grinned.

"You can't just make your child cry like that."

Dante just glared at the boy, who cringed at the sight…

Kirche said dully, "Made up already? That's no fun…"

Tabitha simply pointed at the two and said, "After the rain comes fair weather."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

After said event, Kirche spread out the map again.

"Let's just give up and return to school," urged Guiche, but Kirche did not budge.

"Just one more. One more."

As if she was obsessed, Kirche's eyes gleamed over the maps. Picking one map, she placed it on the ground.

"Ok this one! If this one is also a hoax we're going back to school!"

"What's the treasure?"

Arms crossed, Kirche replied, "Dragon's Raiment."

Siesta, who was eating stew after everyone had finished, choked slightly on her food.

"R-Really?"

"What about it? Do you know something about it? It's close to a village called Tarbes. Now where's Tarbes…"

Siesta replied quickly, "It's in the direction of La Rochelle. There's a big field… It's my home town."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Author's note…

Boring Chapter…

I need a better job so I can have more spare time to write this...

Planning in more character 'build-up' for the girls.

Hopefully it's something coherent…

In a story, what do you prefer?

Sex with plot, or plot with sex?

Me…I don't care as long as it has sex in it.

I'm scared of the possibility of losing this tale forever if I ever published those certain chapter scenes…

But it's necessary to the plot…Maybe.

Next chap will take some time as I contemplate on how to show the rather graphic scene. In my opinion, anyway.

As such, I need your reviews or PM to proceed and advice.

To be honest, I haven't read any deep lemons in fanfics yet.

So pardon my ignorance.

Please review,

Thanks for the patronage,

And stay thirsty for fics my friends.

P.S.

And now for something completely different:

Just a little something I picked up along the way...

On love and anger...

A saint who was visiting a river to take bath found a group of family members on the banks, shouting in anger at each other.

He turned to his disciples, smiled and asked,

"Why do people shout in anger shout at each other?"

The disciples thought for a while, one of them said, "Because we lose our calm, we shout."

"If so, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can as well tell him what you have to say in a soft manner." said the saint

The disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the other disciples.

Finally the saint explained,

"When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other to cover that great distance."

"What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either nonexistent or very small..."

The saint continued, "When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other."

He looked at his disciples and said.

"So when you argue do not let your hearts get distant, Do not say words that distance each other more, Or else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return."


	17. Mission 17 : The Two Gifts

Mission 17 : The Two Gifts

Well, what do you know?

I managed to write something again…

I watched the film 'Alien' as I wrote and put together this chapter.

While I listen to a DDR music 'Himawari'.

I wonder why?

Forgive me, as this might be my first and only time to write this type of 'action' scenes.

Due to a sensitive reader's comment, a word of warning..Due to the plot...There's a reason why this has been changed to rated M...

Hence, if you wish not to have your sensitive, raw, imaginations wrecked, Look away now...

Unless you guys wish to continue...

Consider yourself sufficiently, and stupidly warned... XD

Sigh,

Never mind that, let's begin.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Fantasy pic : Henrietta lies on the bed, on her wedding dress, with most if the buttons undone, showing lots of skin. She is looking at the camera provocatively, with the right hand outstretched towards the viewers.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Somewhere in Halkeginia…

A girl wakes up to find herself naked and chained to the wall, her arms chained up, and her legs are fettered as well. A gag is placed on her mouth preventing her from making a sound.

Looking around, she then notes where she is under the lights of countless lanterns.

She is in a place that appears to be a spacious well furnished place of worship, a large group of figures in black, hooded robes slowly shuffled into the empty pews of the said place.

All the while as they slowly and humbly moved to occupy the pews, they sang a song.

A song that never existed to be sung from tongues of humans.

The girl couldn't help but shudder at the utter ominous atmosphere the song is generating.

When all of the robed figures had taken their places on the seats, the song continued.

The lights turn dim.

Rough hands seized the girl and forcibly drags her to the aisle, as the robed figures continued chanting that jarring song,

The robed figures finally took the now distressed girl into the immaculate altar, laying her on top of it, tying her limbs with chains to the ornamented posts on the altar.

The lights grow dimmer.

The chanting stopped.

The girl now strained to look at what is happening.

Too late, he realized that it was a bad idea, as stark fear and terror overcomes her, rendering her immobile, and unable to turn away.

A white robed figure walks, no…shambles slowly towards her, with a purpose.

A palpable silence cover the hall as this figure of apparent importance moved towards the altar.

The rest of the attending 'worshippers' bowed down in deep reverence as the white robed figure passed their pews.

In moments that seemed to take forever, the white robed figure finally reached the altar.

Then, her gag is removed.

The white robed figure is on top of her.

A long, sharp scream pierced the utter silence of the church, as if the girl is being stabbed countless times.

Cobalt watched the rather gruesome scene unfold, while crouching on top of a tower.

With him is another figure, hidden in darkness, with only a single vertically slitted, glowing yellow eye to show its apparent existence.

For now, let's call this being, "The Eye",

"There are lots of devout followers attend the ceremony of 'culling of the innocent'." The Eye commented, speaking in a deep, echoing but rather feminine voice

"This ceremony is basically, just fucking a virgin girl until she submits into the bliss, with the "head priest" fucking the brains out of her as the Lord absorbs her pure energy."

Sounds of what appeared to be from the said 'sacrifice' are now screaming with the shouts and moans of pleasure.

The place suddenly explodes into chanting of praises, as the girl's moans go louder as if she is about to reach her ultimate bliss.

The thing is; her voice now turns deeper, and more sonorous, until…

A loud and long roar echoes through the halls.

"Yes, it does, this also, gives the beautiful side effect of 'converting' the said sacrifice." The Eye once again spoke.

More like corrupting.

"We welcome, our new brethren!" The Head Priest shouts, in a voice that doesn't belong to a human standing up inhumanely tall, in front of the altar with his arms spread wide open.

The worshippers in turn shouted in deep elation

"Hail to the Bringer of Truth to the World! All Hail the Light!"

Cobalt turns away from the scene, disgusted for some reason.

"If you allow me, may I excuse myself?"

"You may go."

As Cobalt then disappears in a cloud of smoke, leaving The Eye to continue watching the proceedings.

A new presence accompanies The Eye; this one however, remained in the shadows.

"Report."

The shadow spoke in a grating screech that is impossible for human coherence.

"I see," The Eye said, "Just as Cobalt reported from his end, Cromwell now wishes to invade Tristain at the soonest time possible. Hmph, the arrogant fool."

The shadow once again spoke in its own tongue, as the Eye nods.

"I understand your concern, but we too have a task to complete. We shall let the Reconquista have their fun; we will have our turn, very soon."

The shadow fades into nonexistence.

The shouts of feverish chanting and praises echoed through the halls as the lanterns suddenly blazed brightly. Illuminating the entire area of 'worship', one place in particular.

"Soon my Lord, we will finish preparing the way for you." The Eye said, looking in reverence at the huge glowing statue sitting on the throne beyond the altar, overlooking the entire ceremony.

The Eye then touched its own single glowing 'Eye'.

"In the end, everyone shall see Your Light."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Meanwhile, back to Dante and Co.

The next morning, whilst they were riding the wind dragon, Siesta explained to everyone. There wasn't much to tell. There was a temple near the village and in that temple there was something called the Dragon's Raiment.

"Why is it called 'Dragon's Raiment'?"

"Apparently you can fly when you put it on," said Siesta, weakly.

"Fly? So it's a wind type item?"

"It's really not that important of a thing…" said Siesta, looking troubled.

"Why?"

"It's a hoax. It's one of those 'treasures' you can find anywhere. It's all just the name. Yet the locals are grateful… they decorate the temple, worship it…"

"Really?"

Siesta then proceeded to say nervously.

"Actually… the owner of it was my grandmother. One day, my grandmother appeared in the village. Apparently she fell along with the Dragon's Raiment on her way to go somewhere. She wouldn't say where."

"Is that so…"

"But no one believed her. Everyone says that my grandmother was weird."

"Why?"

"Someone told her to fly with it, but she told them it couldn't. She said that it was not hers to fly with, but no one had a reason to believe her. She said that its mission is done, so making it fly is not necessary anymore. After that, she said that it 'couldn't fly anymore' and settled down in the village. She worked really hard to keep the raiment intact. She treated it with a lot of care. She kept on saying that she's keeping it for a friend..."

"What a strange person. It must have been hard on your family?"

"No, apart from the Dragon's Raiment, she was a nice, hard working person. Everyone liked her."

"It's something famous within the village right? Just like that Yosenabe… Then we can't take it back with us."

"But… It's like our family property… If Dante wanted to, I could ask my dad to show you it," Siesta said in a troubled voice.

Just as Dante thought, hoaxes are useless, but the exercise he got with the orcs was nice though.

That and Louise, though as vehemently denies it, appears to have enjoyed the sojourn.

And she seemed to have finally succeeded in making a rather nice edict.

'Though the oceans may look endless…' was the only part of it read by the devil hunter until the pinkette hid the paper.

Kirche remarked, "Even if it is a hoax, there are ways to sell hoaxes. There are many people with different tastes in this world."

"You're a horrible woman." Guiche said, shocked.

The wind dragon flapped its wings, headed towards Tarbes.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

"Whoa!"

Dante's eyes went round at the sight of the "Dragon's Raiment". They were in the temple built close to Tarbes, Siesta's hometown. That was where the "Dragon's Raiment" lay.

Actually it would be more correct to say that the temple had been built to cover the Dragon's Raiment. The shape which Siesta's grandmother had built the temple into made Dante nostalgic.

The temple was built in the corner of a field. Its door was made by logs joined together, and its walls were made from planks and mortar instead of stone. On top of an area of the wooden floor painted dark green lay the Dragon's Raiment. Perhaps it was due to the permanence spell… but there were no signs of rusting. It was as if it had just been made.

Kirche and Guiche looked at the Dragon's Raiment, dispirited. As if struck by curiosity, Tabitha looked at it with interest. Amazed, Dante stared at the Dragon's Raiment.

"Dante, are you ok? If I showed you anything to make you feel bad…" said Siesta in a worried voice.

Dante didn't reply. He continued to gaze at the Dragon's Raiment as though he were deeply moved.

"Of course this thing can't fly," said Kirche.

Guiche nodded.

"It's just a strangely made large bird model or something, with two pair of wings on top of the other. So much for 'Dragon's Raiment'."

Guiche pointed at the Dragon's Raiment and nodded, convinced that he was right.

"Dante… Are you really alright?"

Dante grasped Siesta's shoulders as she was peering into his face. Dante spoke calmly.

"Siesta."

"Y-Yes?"

"Did your grandmother leave behind anything else?"

"Um… the only noteworthy things are her grave and a few of her belongings."

"Show me them."

The grave of Siesta's grandmother was located in the village cemetery. The tombstones were made from large white stones. Among them there was a tombstone made from a black stone, creating a clear contrast with the others.

Words were inscribed on the tombstone.

"My grandmother made this tombstone before she died. It's written in a language from a different country, so no one has been able to read it. I wonder what it says…" said Siesta.

Dante read it out loud.

"Umbra Witch: Aoi, rests in another world."

"What?"

Siesta's eyes widened at Dante, who read it fluently.

Dante looked at Siesta feverishly, causing her to blush.

"Stop… If you look at me like that…"

Black hair, black pupils… This nostalgic feeling… So that's why, Dante thought, realizing why he was feeling nostalgic.

Siesta's a descendant of the Japanese branch of the Umbran witch bloodline. The Japanese branch is one of the most prominent members of the group in Asia, particularly their ability to summon powerful beings from another dimension.

He worked with them many times in the past.

'What the fuck did an Umbra witch, be doing here?' Dante thought.

Then he remembered something,

The veiled lady.

"I have sent someone to aid you..."

"Siesta, you were told that your hair and eyes were similar to your grandmother's right?" said Dante much to Siesta's surprise.

"Y-Yes! How did you know that?"

Returning to the temple, Dante touched the "Dragon's Raiment".

It's actually a purple painted Biplane.

'No wonder, you couldn't fly. You slept again…'

'Check out the guns' Dante thought.

Dante takes another look at the object in question. No matter how well it was preserved, it still couldn't fly without either someone with enough magic to power it, or awakening it.

'I wonder how she had got into Halkeginia with this thing…' Dante wanted to trace the trail, no matter what answer it would lead to.

Siesta returned from her parent's home.

"Everyone was really surprised since I'm two weeks earlier than I said I would be."

Siesta excitedly handed over the item in her hands to Dante. They were a bunch of strange three-sided daggers, kunai, probably the ones her grandmother used. She was like the owner of the staff of destruction which Dante had used to defeat the hooded woman's golem, someone from a distant world.

A foreigner, just like Dante.

More like an Alien...

"Grandmother only left these behind, along with this pendant i'm wearing. She didn't keep a diary or anything like that. But father said she left behind a will."

"A will?"

"Yes. 'If someone who could read the inscription on the tomb appeared, give him the Dragon's Raiment'."

"Meaning it's mine now, huh?"

"Yes. Father said it was alright to give it to you. It was a bother to take care of anyway… There are some people who worship it… but besides that, it's just collecting dust in this village."

"Well, I won't hesitate then," said Dante.

"Father also wanted me to tell you something."

"What did he say?"

"He said he wants you to return the Dragon's Raiment to a person named Suparuda. Suparuda… I wonder what he means."

'It's Sparda.' Dante realized…well anyway,

"She's from a country I once lived and worked in," said Dante.

"Really? So that's why you could read the words on the tombstone. Wow! I'm kind of moved. My grandmother was from the same country as Dante worked and lived in. It seems like fate." Siesta said absentmindedly.

"Then grandmother really did come to Tarbes using the Dragon's Raiment."

"This isn't called the Dragon's Raiment."

"What is it called in Dante's country?"

Well, it's not generally known in Dante's world at all…

He looked at the symbol drawn on the plane's bird shaped ornament. The symbol of his father embossed on the ornament's body. No doubt about it, this is one of that organizations'.

Dante felt very nostalgic from merely seeing such an old thing from his old life.

Dante replied, "It's called a Biplane, a flying machine and a weapon, made in my world."

"Biplane? A weapon?"

"In simpler terms, this is actually a man-made object, made for flight and to fight."

'Though apparently, there is more to this than meets the eye.' Dante thought, as he once more touches the plane's wing.

No need to confuse the girl further, thus he forego the explanation regarding complex non-magical items.

"It can really fly? Just like a plane? The one you mentioned before?"

But if the silent message that this item is sending is right...

"Only when I fall shall I rise…"

Dante smiles as he nodded.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

That day, they all stayed at Siesta's home. As nobles were staying over, even the village chief came to greet them.

Siesta introduced Dante to her family, her father, mother and siblings. Siesta was the eldest daughter of the eight siblings. Her parents viewed Dante in a harsh light at first, but that was soon broken when Siesta told them that he was looking after her at the academy. Having not been home for a while Siesta looked quite happy being surrounded by family.

Dante was sort of envious of her. When he thought about it, Louise, Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche all had families.

As if Dante would admit it in front of others.

He also had one, but he couldn't meet them anymore. Even if he wanted to meet them, he knew he can't.

In the evening, Dante gazed out at the wide field. The sun was setting behind the mountains beyond the field. It was a huge field.

'Just as Siesta had said, flowers were blooming everywhere. So this is the beautiful field that Siesta wanted to show me.'

As to why the Umbra group sent a witch here, is still a mystery to the devil hunter.

'To help me huh?' Dante thought,

Siesta came to Dante, who was still gazing at the field, as he tries to answer the mystery of it all.

"Dante-san?"

She was wearing a brown skirt, wooden shoes and a dark green cotton shirt, instead of her usual maid outfit.

Like the field in front of him, her appearance was like that of the smell of sunlight.

Well, figuratively anyway.

"So you were here! Dinner's ready. Father insists we eat together." said Siesta shyly.

"I did ask you to come visit, but I didn't expect it to really happen."

Siesta stretched both her arms out at the wide field before them. The setting sun bathed the field in a beautiful light.

"Isn't this field beautiful? This is what I wanted to show you, Dante."

"Yeah, it is."

Siesta then cast her eyes downwards and twiddled her fingers.

"My father said that meeting with someone like you must be fate. He asked if you could settle in the village. And then said if you did then I… could stop my work at the academy and return here with you."

Dante didn't reply. He just stared at the sky. He was thinking of how kind Siesta was to him.

If she said any more nice things to him, his heart would probably melt. He felt lonely when he saw Siesta happily sitting and chatting with her family.

But then again he has been alone for most of his life. Maybe the old Academy Head was right, he should find a wife here and just settle down. His father did it long ago...which didn't work out so well in the long run...

Then a voice belonging to his mother seemed to whisper to him. "Don't compare your fate to your father's."

Siesta looked at Dante who was still staring at the sky and smiled.

"But, it's alright. I know it won't work out. You're like a bird. You're bound to fly away some day."

Dante then decided to tell Siesta the truth.

Well, part of it anyway.

"Your grandmother said she came from the east, right?"

"Um…yes," Siesta said, slightly worried.

"Your grandmother, like I, wasn't born in this world."

"You were born in Rub' al Khali in the east, right?"

"No. It is much, much further than that." said Dante in a serious tone. "It's a different world. I'm not from this world."

"You're just playing around with me aren't you? If you don't like me, then just say it." said Siesta, pouting her lips.

"No, it's not that at all. I'm not playing around with you."

"Is there someone waiting for you there?"

"Nope. But there might be a time that I'll someday have to leave this world for my own."

Dante turned to Siesta, and said honestly, "That's why I can't do the things you mentioned."

Dante was very serious. Siesta knew he wasn't joking around.

"I can protect people with my power while I'm here. But that's all. I don't have the right to reside with anyone. I don't."

"But my grandmother did, right?"

"Yeah, your grandmother did, but she chose to remain here for a reason. But me, I'm way too dangerous to have a family so to speak. I have made enemies, powerful enemies, I'm afraid that they might turn on you in order to hurt me..."

They have done it many times before…

"Then… Can I wait for you? I don't have any good qualities, but I can wait. Until the time comes when you finally defeat your enemies, then…"

Siesta then became silent.

'If that really happened, what would I do?' Dante thought. His pulse raced slightly just by looking at Siesta.

She was cute, and stunning without clothes on.

Wait, why is he thinking of her that way?

Anyway...

She's kind and can even cook. She's a great girl. All the more reason why he couldn't promise her,

In a flash, He finds himself being embraced by the maid.

"D- Dante-san, this may be sudden. But will you please accept me, the me at the moment, and henceforth."

Another bold move from our favourite maid.

The devil hunter looked into her eyes, as he tries to appeal to her through his gaze.

She's not backing down, holding on to him a lot stronger than ever.

'Just where is her strength coming from?'

Yup, looks like he won't be doing any escapes here.

Seeing that Dante is no longer resisting, Siesta then looked deeply into his eyes of deep blue.

To those who don't know the devil hunter, those eyes are cold like the Antarctic ice.

To Siesta, those are the eyes of the warmest person she had ever seen.

Her friend.

Her Savior.

Her Love.

Her True Love.

This is how the maid views the devil hunter.

Silently, she continued to regard Dante's countenance, gently tracing his cheek with her hands.

She then puts her arms around his neck, pulling herself towards him even closer.

A kiss.

A rather chaste kiss.

"I…love…You.." Siesta breathes after the kiss…

Siesta tilted her head slightly, and then once more pressed her lips against Dante's.

This time however, it was a primal, passionate, clumsy kiss.

She held the devil hunter's head tightly as their lips pressed together.

"Mmm… mmh… mhh.."

Their long, long, kiss continued; it is as if as the two melted together.

When Siesta finally separated, Siesta let out a sweet, sweet sigh.

Dante could see her eyes glittering with the fire of passion in the light of the setting sun.

"Dante…"

"Siesta…"

Dante holds the maid tightly.

The maid sighs at the warmth of her man.

"Ahh…"

A bead of sweat trickles down her neck…

To the devil hunter, she smelled so sweet.

(What the hell am I writing!)

It was almost as though her body was inviting him…

No one here to stop him from doing so…

He kissed her lightly along her neck, up her earlobe.

"Ahh…Guhh…Mmmmhh…" Siesta moans, holding on to Dante.

"N-no… not there…" she tries to say,

But Dante knows that she likes it.

Dante tries to humor her and asks, "Hmm…Why not?"

"Because…" Siesta Looked away from him. Her cheeks were red.

Dante sighs deeply as he ran his tongue along her neck…

"No! Ahh… mmm…"

Dante pauses,

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked,

Siesta looks down at Dante, looking a bit pissed off,

'She's so cute…'

"Ahh… please don't…mmm…" Siesta wasn't able to end her response as Dante once more played his tongue along her neck…

Dante could catch a glimpse of her breasts through the neck of her dress…

Dante slowly reached toward her chest.

Siesta gasps,

Dante's in a bit of a fix now, as he couldn't control himself at the moment…

He roughly lifted up the front of her shirt, exposing her breasts.

Her skin was just as he remembered it, though at the moment, it was flushed pink, in shame…and arousal…

Siesta's breath becomes a bit excited…

Dante held her breasts in the palms of his hands…

The rather new sensation made her shiver slightly.

To the devil hunter, her breasts were so hot that he could almost imagine that his hands would burn.

This is one of the few times that Dante would show his sensitive side…

They were so soft and warm. They felt so good to touch…

Dante thought

"Mmm… that's feels good… aaahhh."

Siesta breathed deeply, every time his fingertips gently squeed her breasts, at the same time, he played with her earlobe with his mouth.

He could feel her nipples hardening under his 'magic touch'.

Siesta moans in pleasure,

Dante then stops teasing her earlobes, gently pinching and rolled her little pink buds between his fingers…

"Ahhh… ahhh…"

"Siesta… please lie here…" Dante indicated to a large piece of red cloth that suddenly appears on the grass.

(Point of no return…)

Siesta walked , a bit excited, and partially scared; but entirely ready for what may come next...

"This is … kind of embarrassing."

Siesta looked at Dante as she laid her body on the cloth covered grass.

Dante gently smiles as he follows her.

He gives her another kiss.

At the same time, he lifts up her skirt…

"Hmm?"

"W-What's wrong?" Siesta asks,

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" the devil hunter asks one last time.

"Y-yes, I want you…" Siesta blushed even more deeply,

"…to be my first." She ends her statement.

This finally broke what reserve Dante has, as he ran his finger between her legs, over the cloth of the immaculate white panties.

Eliciting another gasp of surprise, and pleasure from the girl.

Dante traces his finger up and down across her most tender spot.

A damp stain began to spread.

"Mmmmphhh…ahhh…" Siesta moans, gripping tightly on the cloth beneath her.

He slipped his finger in through the side of her panties…

And spreads her soft lips, slowly slipping his finger inside…

"Mmmhh.." Siesta moans, 'It's inside me…' she thought.

She wondered what Dante will do next…

In and out,

In and out,

He slowly, gently moved his finger in and out, just at the entrance.

The warm, wet feeling around his fingertip sends a slight jolt of electricity run up his spine.

What Siesta's feelings at the moment was something she can't put into words, as such she could only gasp and moan as her beloved Dante pleasures her.

Siesta can't bear it any longer,

Dante then felt her hand on his free hand.

"I think you're… ready now…"

Siesta could feel her heart pounding in her ears.

Her breath came in short gasps as she silently nods at Dante.

Dante then pulls Siesta's panties off.

Her juices were already starting to trickle down to the cloth.

The air was thick with the smell of her sweat, mixed with her sweet, womanly scent.

Looks like Siesta will become a full woman.

She is so beautiful…

Dante moves on top of her, and in between her beautiful spread legs, with his 'spear' all ready.

"Here I go…"

He touched the tip against her wet opening, and slowly thrust forward.

"Nnnnn…"

Dante felt some slight resistance, as he gently pushed forward, then he felt something pop inside of Siesta's body.

"Ahh…ahh! It hurts…ahhhh!"

No prizes to those who guessed what happened.

Dante's 'spear' burst through the temporary resistance, and continued on through.

A small trace of blood could be seen where they are connected, slowly dripping to the cloth below.

Dante asks, "Siesta, are you okay?"

Gasping, Siesta looks at Dante's face, which registered concern.

Even in this situation… he may not usually show it, but he genuinely cares. One of the reasons why the maid loves this man…

Smiling bravely at him, Siesta opens her mouth

"It hurts…" she admits,

"Do you want to stop?"

Siesta has already decided this; there is no way she would…

"We've gone this far…please, don't stop now…"

"But… I'm fine like this. Even if we don't move, it still feels great!"

Dante was not lying on the last part…

Siesta couldn't help but smile, "You Dummy." She said, playfully knocking her fist on Dante's silver topped head.

Siesta's sheath was so tight, and only tightened as she bopped Dante on the head, he could feel it squeezing him, and it felt good.

"You can…move."

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah,"

"Okay."

Dante thought a bit, and then said,

"But if you don't think you can take it anymore, just tell me."

A moan from Siesta replied,

Dante slowly moved back and forth, testing her, to make sure that she is all right.

Siesta begins to feel less and less painful, as a new feeling begins replacing it. Her insides felt like nothing she's ever felt before, It felt like a hot pole is poking her.

Dante felt good…really good, taking a lot of his self control from pounding himself into her as hard as he might do.

"Mmm…nghh… inside… so hot…" Siesta moans,

He thrusts his hips as slowly , carefully and gently as he could.

Moving in a slightly circular motions, he felt every inch of Siesta's inner sheath.

Her moans grow louder…now mixed with bitter pain…

And sweet ecstasy,

Siesta holds on to Dante's arms, then to the cloth behind her as she savoured this unforgettable moment with her beloved.

Dante gently played with her breasts, further adding to the pleasure that the maid is experiencing, gasping and moaning in response.

That signalled the snow-haired man to slowly quicken the pace,

Siesta's body began to relax and grow softer…

Siesta felt like she is beginning to get lost in the unbelievable pleasures that Dante has been graciously giving her.

"Mmmm…Ahhh…mmm…mmmm…" Siesta moans,

Ripples of pleasure spread throughout their bodies. With Siesta, even more so.

The heavenly pleasure began to build up, that she could now almost feel herself overflowing,

"Ahh! Ahhh… mmm… Ahhh… I feel…something…strange…" Siesta said, between thrusts.

Then for a brief instant, Dante thrusts his 'spear' deep inside her.

*Splurt*

A sudden spurt of love juice burst, and driblled out.

"Ahhh…ahh! That's, you're so deep…" Siesta stated, gasping for breath,

Dante holds her by her hips as he continues to thrust.

Bodies collided, filling the afternoon air with the sound of flesh against flesh.

"Ahh... Ahh! Ahhh… Dante-saaan!" Siesta moans,

Dante continues to thrust, constantly changing the angle of 'attack'.

With every movement, more of her Siesta's juices dripped out.

"Nghh…"

Dante clenched with all his might to hold back his 'cum'.

"Ahhh… ahhhh! Ahhhhhmmm! Ahhhh!" the maid cries in ecstasy,

"Siesta!" Dante grunts back, as her sharp cries of lust, push his passion to his outmost limit.

Siesta clutched Dante, digging her nails into his arms,

She arches her back as her entire body begins to spasm.

Her sheath squeezed down on Dante's 'weapon' as hard as it could.

Finally pushing Dante to his…

"I'm…"

Dante felt a ball of fire building up inside his groin.

It has been so long…

Barely pulling out his 'spear' out of Siesta before he released.

Splurt…Spurt… Spurt…

Dante released all over Siesta's sheath and legs, managing to avoid staining her dress…

This guy's one hell of a gunslinger after all.

After a moments pause, the devil hunter lets Siesta rest for a while, as the maid fell asleep from the experience.

Yeah, he still got it.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have the heart to tell the maid that he could go much further…

Some stamina this guy has…

He took the moment to clean her up, as he began to think of the status of his relationship with her.

She still gave herself to him, even though he might not be able to stay with her due to his situation at the moment.

"I can wait…" Siesta's voice echoed in his mind,

Somewhere in the back of his mind, it seems that he could her someone watching them at the moment.

"Ohohohohohoho! "a familiar voice laughs softly. As the veiled figure turned its back on the couple, disappearing into the setting sun,

Dante sighs as he lies down on the grass on the fields viewing the sunset, as if they never left the place and...

'That is what guys back home would call a forced wedding night... but then again...' Dante reflects.

'Oooh, boy. This does not bode well.'

Siesta meanwhile still has her head up in the clouds. As Dante sort-of received her love for him.

Regaining herself, Siesta gets up and smiled.

"A carrier owl just sent this. It seems like the teachers are very angry. Miss Zerbst and Mr. Gramont were pale. They mentioned me as well. They said that I could have a holiday for the time being. The princess's wedding is coming soon anyway. So until the holiday ends, I'll be here."

Dante nodded.

"Um… so can you make that Dragon's Raiment fly?"

"Yeah after making some tweaks," said Dante, watching the setting sun.

"Really? If you could get it to fly, then it would be wonderful. The Dragon's Raiment was called a biplane, right? If you get it to fly, then please let me ride it just once."

Dante nodded. Though he might no too sure if it will take such a form. But as with his experience with stuff, anything could happen.

"I can let you ride it as many times as you like. It was your family's to begin with anyway."

Siesta then gives the devil hunter a hug from behind and pulls him up and along as the two returns to the maid's home.

Unseen by both of them, a small, glowing symbol appears behind the maid…

The Umbra Witch's symbol.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

After the adventuring party returned.

Guiche, kirche nad Tabitha, ended up in cleaning detail as punishment for truancy.

Louise was excused due to the letter Dante left behind, explaining that Louise left to find inspiration for the edict.

Dante was, well not a student of the place, so nothing was imposed at him.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Dante hangs out with Professor Colbert in his so called lab.

Colbert's laboratory was situated in a small area between the central tower and the fire tower. It was much like an old dugout shed.

The Dante asked Osmond for a space where he could put the plane for a while, as he needs to make some adjustments to the plane, and to find clues to what was the Umbra Witch's mission here was.

Hence, Osmond then summons Colbert…

And that brought one thing to another, to this present situation.

"At first I conducted experiments in my own room, but noise and bad smells come naturally with research. I was complained to by the people next to me shortly afterwards." Colbert said

The wooden racks were cluttered with bottles of medicine, test tubes, jars containing nostrum and the like. Next to that was a wall of bookshelves, crammed with books. There was a celestial globe made from parchment stuck on a sphere, and other various maps. There were lizards, snakes and birds that he had never seen before inside cages. A musky smell which was neither from dust nor mold filled the entire room. Dante pinched his nose.

"You'll get used to the smell soon. A woman however wouldn't, which is the reason why I'm single."

Dante nodded.

He was so right.

"You said in your home town, these could be seen flying everywhere? The technology of the lands the elves govern in the east seem to far outclass any technology in Halkeginia." The Professor indicated the Biplane parked just outside the 'Laboratory'.

Dante playfully nicknamed it "Karnival."

Colbert was so interested in it that Dante was even obliged by the Scientist wannabe of sorts to take it apart carefully for the Academy teacher to take notes from.

His hindsight tells him that this could bring a gradual change in the entire world.

Though, earlier interference made by his father and whoever has been making this events move slightly out of synch, has changed the history flow as well.

"Prof. Colbert, actually, I'm… not from this world. The plane, the 'Staff of Destruction' which destroyed Fouquet's golem and I, are from another world."

Colbert's hand suddenly stopped.

"What did you say?"

"I come from another world."

Colbert gazed steadily at Dante and then proceeded to nod his head, as though he were impressed.

"I see." he whispered.

"Aren't you surprised?"

"Well, of course I am. But you definitely seem like it. The way you speak and your behavior has a different feel. Hm, this is becoming more and more interesting."

"You're a strange person aren't you, Prof. Colbert?"

"I get called strange by many people. I haven't even found someone willing to marry me yet. But I have a belief."

"A belief?"

"Yes. The nobles of Halkeginia treat magic as a mere tool… Like a broom, they only see it as a handy tool. I don't think magic is something like that. Magic could be used for so much more. Instead of simply sticking to the traditional uses of the different branches of magic, we should be experimenting to find different ways to utilize it."

Nodding, Colbert continued.

"After seeing you, my belief has grown stronger. Who would have thought there was another world! This shows that the rules of Halkeginia are not absolute! Interesting! Such an interesting topic! I want to see this world. There are probably lots of new things to be discovered! It'll probably add a new page to my research! If you have any questions at all, just come and talk with me. Colbert the Flame Serpent will always help you."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Sometime later…

Louise opened the Founder's Prayer book in front of Dante.

"I'll read out what I've thought already for the edict."

"Haven't you already made one?" Dante asks

"Well, I need to think of a better one, just in case, right?"

With a cute cough, Louise began to read her edict.

"On this beautiful day, I, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de la Vallière, praying for the holy presence of the Founder, shall read the blessed edict…"

And then, Louise stopped.

"Continue?"

"From here on I have to give thanks to the four branches of magic. It has to be poetic and also in rhyme…."

"Then just make it rhyme."

Louise pouted her lips as if she were sulking.

"I can't think of anything. Writing it poetically is a pain in the neck. I'm not a poet or anything."

"It's ok, just read what you have written there." Dante waves her boredly,

With a troubled look, she read her 'poetic' lines.

"Um, as fire is hot, one needs to be careful."

'Isn't that a warning for kids?' Dante thought,

"'Needs' isn't poetic. You should probably remember that." He said aloud,

"Shut up. When the wind blows, those who sell barrels prosper."

'The fuck is that supposed to mean?'

"Why would you use that proverb here?" he said aloud,

Louise, who didn't seem to have any poetic talent, threw herself on the bed as if sulking and whispered, "I'm going to sleep."

As was now usual, she changed while hiding her body behind her bedsheets. After turning off the lamp she called out to Dante, who had is on the couch already.

"I said to sleep in my bed, didn't I?"

"Huh?"

Louise didn't respond. Dante slipped into the bed thinking that she was probably lonely so he did what he was told.

Louise was still awake. She opened her mouth, as if she had wanted to talk to him.

"So, what now?"

"What do you mean?" Dante replied.

"Well, I mean, You're probably thinking of using that thingumajig to explore Halkeginia, right?"

"Well, as you remember, I'm still finding out what happened to Sparda while he's here."

"It's dangerous to do that, you know. I mean, there are powerful, dangerous creatures out there. The elves in particular. Those elves hate humans…"

"But humans live in the areas beyond the lands of the elves right? Like that place called Rub' al."

"The nature of those humans is completely different. It'll be dangerous."

It seemed like Louise was worried about letting Dante go.

"You're still going to go?"

Dante thought about it briefly and nodded.

"Well, I might be able to find a clue about what Sparda did and what is happening in this world at this moment."

Louise was moving around under the sheets. Just as he was wondering what she was doing, she rested her head on his chest.

"Wha-"

"I'm just using it instead of my pillow!" Said Louise in a sulky and angry voice.

"Are you still going to go even if I say no?"

Dante remained silent.

"I thought so…" Louise whispered, as she began to drift off to sleep.

Louise's hair had a beautiful fragrance. The sound of her breathing was close as well. The two were silent.

Dante was thinking of many things. Dante wasn't talking, and Louise didn't know what else to say, so she simply hugged Dante's chest tightly.

"I don't want you to leave. When you're beside me I can sleep without worrying. You make me angry…" Louise said in a tiny voice while embracing Dante.

'By the looks like those puffy eyes were because she didn't sleep much lately,' thought Dante. Soon, Louise's steady breathing, like that of a child's, could be heard near Dante's chest. She was fast asleep.

Louise was so pampered it made his heart melt.

She's just like a kid wanting to be spoiled…

Not that the devil hunter minded…

'Seems like she's uneasy without me around. Well, I'm her guardian after all.'

Listening to her breathing, Dante was deep in thought. He thought of the people he had met in this world.

He had met many people within his few months in Halkeginia. There were evil people, but also kind people.

There was Marteau from the kitchen who gave him food and the free use of the kitchen whenever he felt the need to whip up a pizza or two.

Osman, who had told him he would lend him his hand if he needed help. Besides that, he knew Sparda after he left his family.

Colbert, who had been one of the first person who had been a nice conversant when he's bored.

A snob and often stupid, but a friendly person who had his own qualities, Guiche.

A good training dummy as well.

Not a human but a sword, a partner he had been friends for some time, Derflinger.

Henrietta, the beautiful princess.

Courageous… and dead because of it, Prince Wales.

Tabitha, a silent person but someone who had saved him on numerous occasions.

The seductive Kirche, who said she liked Dante, though it might have been a joke.

Siesta, the cute and kind maid… who probably had feelings for him.

And lastly, his contractor next to him,

Arrogant and stuck up, but one who occasionally showed kindness that would melt his heart, Louise. A girl with pinkish blond hair and big reddish brown eyes.

'When the time comes for me to go home, will I be able to leave these people with a smile on my face?'

Will he be able to leave Louise with a smile?

'I don't know.'

But… Dante thought

'The people who have been kind to me, I want to do the most I can for them.'

'At least while I'm in this world, I will do something for them.'

For the time being, Dante embraced Louise's head gently.

Louise groaned in her sleep.

After all, there are still things out there that needed to be dealt with before leaving this place.

And it seems like it's a long stay for the devil hunter.

The devil hunter falls asleep as well.

The Founder's book on the desk briefly glows.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

On to the next place…

The Germanian king, Albrecht the Third, had arranged for Princess Henrietta's wedding ceremony to take place in Germania's capital, Vindobona. The date of the ceremony: the first day of the month Nyuui.

Currently, the Mercator flagship of the Tristain fleet was to welcome the guests of the New Albion government by leading them to La Rochelle, where they would stay anchored in the skies above it.

The commander in chief of the fleet, Count La Ramée, sat in the quarterdeck in formal attire. Next to him, Captain Fevisu was stroking his moustache. It was far past the arranged time.

"They sure are late, Captain."

La Ramée replied with an irritated voice.

"Those Albion dogs who killed their king with their own hands are probably still busy acting like dogs."

The sailor on the top deck suddenly informed him of the fleet's approach in a loud voice.

"A fleet! From the left!"

With a large ship leading in front, which could easily be mistaken as a cloud, the Albion fleet had started to descend.

"So that's the standard of Albion's 'Royal Sovereign' fleet…" said the captain, watching the large ship in awe.

It was the ship that would have had the ambassador on it.

"Something that no one would want to meet on a battlefield, that's for sure."

The Albion fleet descended until they were level with Tristain's fleet. The Albion ship began sending signaling messages from the mast.

"We thank you for your fleet's welcome. This is the captain of Albion's Lexington."

"We have an admiral on board! Using a captain to correspond… we're being treated like fools" the captain said resentfully, while looking over Tristain's weak array of ships.

"They're probably thinking the world is within their grasp now that that they have that ship. Reply to them with 'We give you our warmest welcome. This is the commander in chief of the Tristain fleet'"

La Ramée's words were passed on to the sailor who was standing on the mast. The signaling flag for the message was then hoisted up.

The Albion fleet fired their cannons in salute. There were no shells inside the cannon, they had merely let gunpowder explode.

Though the Lexington fleet had done a mere cannon salute, the air around it shook. La Ramée retreated slightly. Even though he knew that live ammunition couldn't possibly reach across the distance separating them, the force of the cannons from the Lexington fleet was able to make the experienced admiral retreat.

"Fire our cannons in response."

"How many shells shall we fire? For the top nobles, eleven is required."

The number of shells to be fired depended upon the person's rank and social status.

"Seven will do," ordered La Ramée watching with a grin on his face like a stubborn child.

"Prepare the cannons! Seven shots, one by one! Fire when they're ready!"

／人◕ . ◕人＼

On the afterdeck of the Lexington, flagship of the fleet, Bowood was looking at the Tristain fleet. Next to him was Sir Johnston, the commander in chief, responsible for the entire invasion squad. Being a member of the council of nobles, Cromwell trusted him deeply. However, he had no experience. He was a politician after all.

"Captain…" Johnston said to Bowood in a worried voice.

"Sir?"

"Is it alright to go so close to them? We have those new long range cannons equipped right? Put some distance between us. His Excellency has entrusted me with important soldiers."

"Cromwell's puppet, huh…" Bowood whispered coldly to himself.

"Yes we do have the new cannon model, but if we fire from maximum range, they won't hit."

"But I bear his Excellency's task of letting off those soldiers safely in Tristain. We can't have the soldiers scared. Their morale will drop."

I don't think it's the soldiers that are scared… Bowood thought.

Ignoring Johnston, he issued a new command. No law governs the sky, after all.

"Prepare the left cannons."

"Yes sir! Prepare the left cannons!"

The sailors on the deck started to load the cannons with gunpowder and shells.

A thunderous roar could be heard from the Tristain fleet, which was aimed at the skies. Tristain was returning the cannon salute.

The battle plan had commenced.

During that moment, Bowood had turned into a soldier. The political details, his human feelings, the cowardice and foul play of this operation were all forgotten. As the captain of the Lexington fleet of The Republic of the Holy Albion, he proceeded to rapidly issue orders.

The crew of the old Hobart ship trailing at the end of the fleet had finished their preparations, and started to evacuate via the boats they had made levitate with the "Fly" spell.

A startling scene unfolded before La Ramée's eyes. The ship trailing at the end… the oldest and one of the smallest ships had started to go up in flames.

"What? A fire? Was it an accident?" whispered Fevisu,

The next instant, another startling thing occurred. The ship that was engulfed by flames and exploded in the air.

The Albion ship was reduced to ruins and came crashing down to the ground.

"W-What is this? Did the fire reach the ammunition storage?"

The Mercator was in an uproar.

"Calm down! Calm down!" Fevisu yelled at the sailors.

A signal flag was seen from the Lexington. A sailor started reading the signals with a telescope.

"From the Lexington fleet captain. Explain the meaning behind sinking Hobart."

"Sinking? What is he saying? It exploded by itself!"

La Ramée was panicking.

"Send a reply. 'The fire from my ship was a response to your salute. The salvo didn't contain any live shells'"

A reply was sent promptly by the Lexington.

"Your ship's attack used live ammunition. We shall return your intent of war."

"What nonsense!"

La Ramée's cry was drowned by the bombardment from the Lexington.

Impact. The mast of the Mercator broke off and a few holes had been made in the deck.

"How can their cannons reach from such a distance?" said a surprised Fevisu on the shaking deck.

"Send a message! 'Cease fire, we have no intent of war'"

The Lexington replied with a barrage of cannon shells.

Impact. The ship was shaking and fires had started here and there.

Like a shriek, Mercator's message repeated over and over.

"We repeat! Cease fire! We have no intent of war!"

The Lexington's fire showed no signs of stopping.

Impact. La Ramée's body was sent flying out of Fevisu's sight.

The shock of the impact had thrown Fevisu onto the floor. He suddenly realized that the attack was all planned. They never had any intention of a "good-willed visit" at all. They had all been deceived by Albion.

The ship started to go up in flames and the injured sailors groaned in pain. Shaking his head while standing up, Fevisu yelled, "The commander in chief is dead! The flagship captain will now take control of the fleet! Damage report! Full speed ahead! Prepare the right cannons!"

"So they've finally realized." said Cobalt, who was standing next to Bowood, as he leisurely watched the Tristain fleet.

Cobalt also believed that the commander in chief, Johnston, didn't deserve the title and would be unable to do anything.

The fact is, Cobalt was in effect, the commanding officer.

"Seems like it, Master Cobalt. However, it seems we will win soon enough."

The Albion fleet, which had superior mobility, had already taken action to suppress the full on charge of the Tristain fleet.

The Albion fleet kept a fixed distance, and continued firing their cannons. Their fleet numbered twice that of Tristain's and in addition they had the huge Lexington, which had the new cannon model. There was no contest in firepower.

As if they were tormenting the Tristain fleet, the Albion fleet continued their fire. The Mercator, which was already on fire, had started to slant. In an instant, the Mercator exploded with a deafening roar. None of the ships in the Tristain fleet were undamaged. The fleet was thrown into chaos with the loss the flagship.

Destroying them was only a matter of time now. Ships could be seen flying their white flags already.

On the Lexington, cries of "Long live Albion! Long live the holy king Cromwell!" could be heard. Bowood knitted his eyebrows. During the days of the Royal Air force, no one used to say things like "Long live so and so" during battle. Even the commander in chief, Johnston had joined in.

"Captain, a new page in history has begun." said Cobalt,

As if mourning for his enemies, who didn't even have a chance to cry out in pain, Bowood whispered, "No, only a war has begun."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Soon after the news that the entire Tristain fleet in La Rochelle had been wiped out arrived, a declaration of war was issued by Albion. It blamed Tristain for breaking the non-aggression treaty by attacking their fleet without reason, and stated "As an act of self-defense, The Holy Republic of Albion shall declare war on the kingdom of Tristain."

The palace, which had been busily occupied with Henrietta's departure for Germania, was thrown into a state of confusion from the turn of events.

The generals, cabinet ministers and other officials immediately held a meeting. But the meeting was little more than a disordered ramble. Opinions that they should inquire Albion about the circumstances of the events, or that they should dispatch messengers requesting aid were thrown about.

Sitting in the meeting's seat of honor was a shocked Henrietta. She was wearing her beautiful wedding dress that had just been finished. She had originally planned to head to Germania by carriage after the dress had been finished.

She was like a blooming flower in the meeting room. But no one had even noticed.

"Albion states that our fleet attacked them first! However our fleet says they only did a cannon salute."

"Accidents can cause misunderstandings."

"Let's hold a meeting in Albion to sort this out! Perhaps there is still a chance to mend this misunderstanding!"

While the powerful nobles stated their opinions, the Cardinal Mazarin nodded.

"Right. Dispatch a special envoy to Albion. We will approach this cautiously, before it turns into a total war over a mere misunderstanding."

At that moment, an urgent report arrived.

The messenger carrying the letter from the carrier owl, rushed into the meeting room.

"It's an urgent report! After landing, the Albion fleet has started capturing land!"

"Where did they land?"

"The outskirts of La Rochelle! It seems like in the field of Tarbes!"

／人◕ . ◕人＼

In the garden of her parents' house, Siesta hugged her young siblings, watching the skies with an uneasy face. An explosion had been heard not long before in the direction of La Rochelle. Surprised, she went out to the garden and saw the dreadful scene in the sky. Numerous ships were on fire and sinking, crashing onto the mountain's surface and dropping into the middle of the forest.

The village was in a state of confusion. A short while later, a large ship had descended from the sky. The ship, so large that it could be easily mistaken for a cloud, dropped its anchor on the field in the village.

Numerous dragons flew out of it.

"Sister, what's happening?" asked her younger brothers and sisters.

"Let's get in the house," urged Siesta, hiding her fear.

Inside the house, her parents were looking out the windows with troubled expressions.

"Isn't that Albion's fleet?" her father said, looking at the ship anchored in the field.

"Could it be … A war?"

Her father shook his head.

"That's not possible. We have a non-aggression treaty with Albion. The lord proclaimed it recently."

"Then why is the sky full of sinking ships?"

The dragons flying above the ship headed towards the village. Her father grasped his wife and stepped away from the window. With loud cries, the dragons descended upon the village and set the houses on fire.

Her mother screamed. The house was alight and the glass from the windows scattered everywhere. The village was saturated in the blazing flames, roaring of the dragons and the shrieking of the people. Carrying her unconscious mother, the father turned to Siesta, who was shaking.

"Siesta! Take your siblings and run to the forest!"

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Straddling a large wind dragon, a cold, indifferent smile crossed on Cobalt's darkened face as he trampled on this place. The dragoons under his command rode fire dragons.

A wind dragon cannot match a fire dragon in power, but surpasses a fire dragon in speed.

He had chosen the wind dragon solely because he was commanding. To clear the path for the main force, Cobalt mercilessly set the village on fire. In the background, soldiers were dropping down one by one with ropes from the Lexington. The field was an excellent strategic foothold for the invading troops.

From the direction of the field, dozens of the neighboring lord's troops were charging forward. The Tristainian troops could pose a significant threat to the soldiers disembarking onto the field.

Cobalt signaled his underlings to crush the small opposition force. A barrage of fire magic flew from the dragons but still, the Tristainians ferociously charged forward. The reckless force was utterly devastated by the dragon's flames.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

It was past noon. Reports of the events came bursting in the conference room.

"The lord of Tarbes has died in battle!"

"The scout sent to investigate the dragoons has not returned!"

"We still haven't received a reply from Albion regarding our enquiries!"

Meaningless discussions repeated themselves in the conference room.

"We should request aid from Germania!"

"Aggravating the matter like that would…"

"How about attacking them with our whole dragoon force?"

"Round up the remaining ships! All of them! No matter how old or small!"

"Let's dispatch a special envoy! Attacking them will only give them an excuse to engage in a total war!"

The meeting could not reach an agreement. Mazarin was having difficulty coming to a conclusion himself. He was still hoping for a way to settle things diplomatically.

Amongst the heated debate, Henrietta looked at the wind ruby she wore on her ring finger. It was a memento from Wales. She was reminded of the man's face she entrusted herself to.

'Did I not vow upon this ring back then?'

'If my dear Wales has courageously died then… I too should live courageously.'

"Tarbes is up in flames!"

She was surprised at her own voice but quickly regained her composure. With a deep breath, she stood up. Everyone looked at her. Henrietta spoke in a trembling voice.

"Aren't you all ashamed of yourselves?"

"Princess?"

"Our lands are being captured by enemies. There are things we need to do before bickering about alliances and special envoys, isn't there?"

"But… princess… It's just some tension caused by a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? How can you still say that? Sinking a ship during a cannon salute is a bit extreme isn't it?"

"We have signed a non-aggression treaty. It was an accident."

"And that treaty is broken as easily as paper. They had no intention of keeping that treaty. It was just a lie to gain time. Albion's actions clearly show that they have intention to war."

"But…"

Henrietta hit the table and started yelling.

"The blood of our people is being spilled while we are doing this! Is it not the duty of nobles to protect them? For what reason do we bear royal and noble names? Have they not let us reign over them so we can protect them in times of need like this?"

Everyone was speechless. Henrietta continued with a cold voice.

"You're all scared, aren't you? Albion is a large country after all. If we counterattack our chances of winning are slim. Is it because you think you will be held responsible as one of the leaders of the counter attack after the battle is lost? You all plan to cower here to lengthen your lives?"

"Princess," interjected Mazarin.

"However," Henrietta continued.

"I will ride forth. You can continue your meeting here."

Henrietta burst out of the conference room. Mazarin and numerous nobles tried to hold her back.

"Princess! You should rest before your wedding!"

"Ugh! It's so hard to run in this!"

Henrietta tore her wedding dress so that it was above her knees and threw the torn piece at Mazarin's face.

"Perhaps you should go get married instead." She smiled at the Mazarin,

She turned to race towards the courtyard.

"My carriage and my guards! Come!" she yelled when she reached the courtyard.

Her carriage was brought, led by the holy beasts, unicorns.

The remaining magical defense squad in the courtyard assembled at once on Henrietta's call.

She unfastened one unicorn and straddled it.

"I shall command the troops! Regiments, assemble!" she yells,

Aware of the situation, every soldier saluted simultaneously.

Henrietta hit the unicorn's stomach.

The unicorn magnificently raised its hooves up high under the bright sun and set off.

"Follow the princess!" cried the soldiers while following Henrietta, mounted on the beasts.

"Follow! A delay brings shame to the family name!"

The nobles in the courtyard dashed out. The word spread through the regiments scattered about the town.

Watching this absent-mindedly, Mazarin looked up at the skies.

"I knew we would go to war with Albion someday, despite my efforts, but… our country is not prepared."

He was not concerned about his own life. He bore the worries of his country in his own way, and for the sake of the people, he had made his decision. Even if it meant a small sacrifice, he didn't want to engage in a lost battle.

But, it was as the princess said. His efforts and devotion to diplomacy had been boiled away. Of what use is clinging to it? There are things to be taken care of first.

One of the high-class nobles whispered in Mazarin's ear.

"Cardinal, about the special envoy…"

Mazarin slapped the nobles face with his cap. He coiled the torn piece from the wedding dress, which Henrietta had thrown at him, on his head.

"Damn that envoy! All of you! To your horses! If we let the princess go alone we will be forever cast in shame!"

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Author's notes:

WHAT THE HECK HAVE I DONE!

I have no idea why… stuff just came flooding in…

New shit is coming right up… maybe…

Well now, I have no idea where this thing will end up anymore;

Looks like this might end up as anybody's game…

Dammit! I need a new job!

Don't mind me; it's just me venting my annoyances to the world I'm currently in.

*shrugs*

Well, laters.

Pray that I could keep this up.

If not... just tell me and I'll stop...

XD


	18. Mission 18 : The Void Awakens

Is this the last Roar?

No clue…

I need a new job!

Rejoice! As the New Chapter Has just arrived, Hot from the oven...

Yeah right...

Let's begin…

Mission 18: The Void Awakens

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Fantasy pic : Two at the price of one: Dante stands in a church-like place, behind him is a large stained glass window, which seems to feature an angel with its wings spread out, Dante is blocking the view, making the angel wings the only visible part. He's flipping the bird at the viewer while he grins with his right hand holds Ivory, aiming it to the viewer, gangsta style. Half of the pic features Cobalt, crouching on top of a gothic building in the rain, under the darkened hood, only the glowing red light of his left eye could be seen.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

After the rather shocking starting scene to the young readers' from the last chapter, how about this one then?

Let's take a break for a while as we look into someone's love story in the past…

The Ragdorian Lake in between the Kingdoms of Tristain and Gallia was one of Halkeginia's most beautiful places. It spanned across six hundred square kilometers and its width could be compared to that of the distance of Tristania, the capital of Tristain, from the Academy of Magic. The lake was located on relatively high ground, and was as beautiful as if it were a painting. The lush green of the forests woven with the clear water of the lake was a masterpiece which couldn't have possibly been made by a god carelessly waving his shovel around.

However, that lake was not something humans owned. It was a place inhabited by the water spirits, who were the original inhabitants of Halkeginia. It was the paradise of the water spirits who had a much longer history than the humans. The water spirits had made a castle and town at the bottom of the lake and developed their own culture and kingdom. It was said that those who saw it, no matter how evil they were, would turn over a new leaf.

These water spirits were called the spirits of oath and it was said that oaths made by them would never be broken. That being said… the water spirits, who were said to surpass the beauty of the woven colors of the forest, the sky and the lake, rarely appeared in front of humans. Tens of years ago, they had appeared once to renew their oath with the royal family of Tristain, but since then, they had not come up from the depths of the lake. Which is why, even though it was said that "oaths made by them would never be broken", it was an extremely difficult task to prove it.

The first time Henrietta and Wales met was at that Ragdorian Lake. It was three years ago… Celebrating the Queen Marianne's birthday, the Kingdom of Tristain invited guests from each nation and held a large garden party at the Ragdorian Lake. The nobles and royals invited from all over Halkeginia - the Kingdom of Albion, the Kingdom of Gallia, and the empire of Germania, gathered at the lake all dressed up and socialized to their hearts content. Fireworks of magic were set off and under a large tent, a ball was held throughout the night with the world's finest food and wine prepared.

On the night at the end of the first week, as the celebrations were half over, the fourteen year old Henrietta left her tent and made her way to the shore of the lake without any attendants or guards. She was tired of the celebrations, which seemed to stretch on. The days had been packed with events, such as feasts, dance balls, poetry recitals… She was already fed up with all the greetings and flattery. She wanted to be alone and take in some fresh air.

She had passed through the area where the tents and buildings stood with her face hidden under a large hood and had made her way to the quiet bank side. The moon shone brightly, creating an illusionary atmosphere. Captivated by the sight, Henrietta simply stared at the river, which reflected the dazzling bright moon. It seemed that just being captivated by the sight did not satisfy her. Henrietta looked around her. After checking that no one was around, she boldly slipped off her dress. With a mischievous smile arising on her beautiful face, she slowly made her way into the water.

The cool water enveloped her body. It was just the beginning of summer, so the coolness felt pleasant in the warm night. She would be scolded if she were to be found in such a place by the chamberlain La Porte, but she had endured the constrained garden party for so long. I'll be forgiven for something like this, Henrietta whispered as she began to swim out. After swimming for a while, she suddenly sensed someone on the bank side. Henrietta's face became red and she hid her body with her hands.

"Who is it?"

The figure did not reply. Who could it be? The annoying chamberlain La Porte? Her friend who was one year younger than her, Louise Françoise? However she had snuck out of the tent without any of them noticing. Becoming uneasy, she demanded for the person's identity.

"Insolence. Name yourself." Her panicking voice reached the bank side.

"I'm no one suspicious. I was only out for a stroll. Why are you out here swimming at a time like this?"

Henrietta was offended by his composed manner, even though he had been watching her swim all this time.

"I asked for your name didn't I? Even though it may not look like it, I am the princess of a certain country. Before things turn ugly, state your name and leave."

Hearing this, the figure was taken aback.

"A princess? Could it be, Henrietta?"

Henrietta was surprised at the absence of the address of 'princess'. There were only five people gathered at the lake who could address her in such a manner. It would be unbelievable insolence if he weren't one of those five people.

"Who are you?"

Henrietta had taken off the mask of a princess and questioned the figure in the voice of a frightened girl.

The figure laughed. Being laughed at, Henrietta blushed.

"It's me Henrietta, Wales. Wales from Albion. Your cousin!"

"Wales..? You mean, Prince Wales?"

Prince Wales. The crown prince of Albion. They had never met before, but she of course knew of his name. The eldest son of the brother of her late father. She blushed even more deeply.

"I arrived here tonight with my father. I thought I'd just have a glimpse at the Ragdorian Lake because it's so famous. Sorry for scaring you."

"Geez, I can't believe you."

With her clothes on, Henrietta turned towards Wales.

"You can turn around now"

Wales had turned away while Henrietta was changing. At the instant he turned around, something ran across Henrietta's spine for the first time in her life. Her body, cold from the lake became hot as though a fire had scorched her. She shyly smiled at his gallant looks. It seemed as though Wales had felt the same sensation as Henrietta.

"I'm surprised. You've grown beautiful, Henrietta…"

The astonished prince drew out moving words from his mouth.

"I-I haven't at all…" Looking downwards, Henrietta couldn't lift her face.

"I didn't mean to surprise you. I was just taking a stroll and I heard some splashing… When I came here, I realized someone was swimming. Sorry. I couldn't help but gaze."

Truth be told, he's basically peeping anyway.

The lucky bastard.

"Why were you gazing?"

'Coz you're hot, why not?' the prince thought, playfully.

"Aren't the water spirits that live in this lake drawn to the moonlight? I wished to see them just once. The beauty of the water spirits are said to put the two moons into shame." he said aloud,

Henrietta smiled.

"Sorry that it was me then"

Scratching his cheek in an embarrassed fashion, he earnestly said: "Not at all. I haven't seen a water spirit before but…"

"But?"

"You are more beautiful. More beautiful than a water spirit."

Embarrassed, Henrietta hid her face.

"People from Albion are so good at jokes."

"I-It's not a joke! I'm a prince you know. I haven't told a lie, not even once! I really think you are more beautiful" Replied Wales, panicking.

Henrietta's pulse hastened as though a spell had been cast on her. The cousin in front of her… A prince from another country, whom she only knew the name of. The boring garden party, had suddenly become beautifully colorful whilst they stood before the sparkling Ragdorian Lake.

Their relationship grew quite intimate although it didn't take that much time. They understood each other's feelings just by looking at each other's eyes and they also understood well that their time together was limited. At every night of the garden party, Wales and Henrietta would meet by the lake. Henrietta would hide her face with a large hood, and Wales would use a phantom mask which was used in the masked ball. The signal of their rendezvous was the sound of a small stone thrown into the lake. The person who had arrived first would reveal themselves from the thicket from which they were hiding, and after checking no one was around, they would use a password.

After Wales said "On the night the wind blows", Henrietta would reply with "an oath of the water I pledge."

On a particular day, the two were walking by the lake holding hands.

"You were pretty late Henrietta, I almost became tired of waiting"

"Sorry. The feast just stretched on. I'm so sick of drunk ramblings already."

"But… Is it really alright for you to sneak away like that every night?"

Henrietta giggled at Wales worried look.

"It's alright. I'm using a decoy"

"A decoy! That's something pretty serious."

"It's not that big of a deal. That friend of mine you saw with me at lunch the other day…"

"You mean that skinny girl with long hair?"

Wales tilted his head. The girl that would follow Henrietta around and play with her. He was so captivated by Henrietta that he couldn't really recall her look. However, he did vaguely remember her hair color.

"Yes. She dresses up like me, and then goes into my bed for me. The blanket covers her right to the tip of her head so even if anyone stands beside the bed, they can't see her face."

"But, isn't her hair color different to yours? If I remember correctly, hers is pink while yours is…"

Wales brushed Henrietta's hair with his hand.

"A beautiful chestnut color. That would be a fairly bad decoy."

"I've concocted a special magic hair dye. But, I feel a bit guilty. I didn't actually say that I was meeting you. She thinks that I am just out for a stroll."

"You're so cunning!" Wales said while laughing.

"Shh! don't laugh so loud. We don't know if anyone is listening."

"No one is going to be here listening at this hour of the night except for the water spirits. Ah, I want to see them at least once. I wonder what kind of beauty makes the moon jealous."

Pouting her lips, she replied to her lover with a troubling tone

"Oh, I see now. So you didn't actually want to meet with me. You just wanted to see the water spirit, and have me tag along."

Wales suddenly stopped and grasped Henrietta's cheeks gently in both his hands and approached her lips. Henrietta was surprised, but soon closed her eyes. Their lips pressed together. After a while, Wales moved his face away.

"I love you, Henrietta."

"I also love you." Henrietta whispered, blushing furiously.

A tinge of loneliness was reflected in Wales' eyes. While he was entranced by the idea of their love, a composed part of his mind also imagined its conclusion. Their status did not allow them to be with each other. If anyone knew about their relationship… they probably wouldn't even be allowed to see each other in formal events. It was a part of being a princess and a prince.

Wales began to speak, trying to brighten the atmosphere.

"Hahaha… We've both been born with troubling destinies haven't we. Most of the time we've spent together has been at night, with a disguise! It would be good, at least just once, if I could walk by this lake with just you and the sun."

Henrietta closed her eyes and slowly nestled against his chest.

"Then make an oath."

"An oath?"

"Yes. The water spirits living here are also known as the 'spirits of oath'. Oaths made before them are said to be unbreakable." whispered the fourteen year old Henrietta while she hid her face.

"It's a superstition. Just an old folk's tale"

"Even if it's a superstition, I believe it. If by believing, it will grant me my oath, then I will believe forever. Forever…"

A tear dropped from her eyelashes and rolled down on her cheek. Wales gently stroked Henrietta's cheek.

"I love you, Henrietta, because you love me so much. So don't cry like that. The river will overflow with your tears. The people gathered here will drown you know."

"You probably don't know how much I love you. The more serious I get the more you tease me."

"Don't be like that Henrietta"

Lifting the hem of her skirt, Henrietta made her way into the water.

"The princess of Tristain Henrietta vows before the spirits of water that she will love Prince Wales for eternity."

"You're next Wales. Make an oath like I just did."

Wales entered the water and embraced Henrietta. Henrietta clung to his shoulder.

"Wales?"

"Your feet will get cold."

"I don't mind. Rather than that, I made an oath that I will love you forever. Make an oath as well."

"Unbreakable oaths are just a superstition."

"Are you saying that you will have a change of heart?"

Wales went silent for a while, deep in thought.

With a gentle expression, he cast his oath into the lake.

"The prince of Albion, Wales, vows before the water spirits that he will one day walk on this Ragdorian Lake with princess Henrietta and the sun, hand in hand."

"I made the oath."

Henrietta buried her face into Wales' chest and whispered quietly to herself.

"…So you won't vow to love me?"

The surface of the lake twinkled with light. Then after a while the lake was once again engulfed in silence.

The two looked at each other.

Was it the moon light, or was it the spirits of the water accepting their oaths, they didn't know… but nestling against each other they continued to gaze at the beautiful lake of Ragdorian.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

News of the declaration of war had reached the Tristain Academy of Magic the following day. Contact had been delayed due to the chaos in the palace.

Louise, along with Dante, were waiting at the entrance of the Academy of Magic for a carriage from the palace. The carriage was to take them to Germania. However, only a breathless messenger arrived at the academy that hazy morning.

The messenger asked them where Osman's room was, and dashed away quickly after receiving the answer. The unusual scene caused Louise and Dante to look at each other. Sensing something had happened in the palace, the two of them rushed after the messenger.

Osman was occupied with the preparations for the wedding ceremony. He would be leaving the academy for a week and so he was organizing various documents and packing his luggage.

A loud knock came at the door.

"Who is it?"

The messenger from the palace burst into the room before Osman had finished talking.

"Reporting from the palace! Albion has declared war on Tristain! The princess' wedding has been postponed until further notice! Soldiers are currently heading towards La Rochelle! For safety reasons an order was issued stating that all students and staff are to be confined to the castle!"

Osman's face grew pale.

'Crap.' The old man thought, taking a line from the devil hunter's vocabulary.

"A declaration of war? There's going to be a battle?"

"Yes! Enemy forces have set up camp in the fields of Tarbes and are glaring at our forces nearby La Rochelle."

"The Albion forces must be very strong."

The messenger replied sorrowfully.

"The enemy forces are a dozen in number led by a huge warship called the Lexington. The total number of troops is estimated to be around three thousand. Our main fleet has already been destroyed and counting all our troops, we only have around two thousand. We weren't prepared for a war, so that was all we could field. However, the worst is that they have complete aerial dominance. Our troops will surely be decimated by their cannons."

"What's the current situation?"

"The enemy dragoons are setting fire to the village of Tarbes… We requested aid from Germania, but they say the soonest they can arrive is in three weeks…"

Osman sighed and said, "… They're planning to abandon us. During that period, Tristain's towns will fall readily into the hands of the enemy."

With her ears pressed against the door of the principal's room and Dante leaning against the nearby wall, Louise and Dante looked at each other. Louise's face had become pale at the mention of war,the invasion of Tarbes. Isn't that Siesta's village?

Dante dashed off. Louise panicked and followed him.

Dante reached the courtyard and started climbing into the Biplane. Louise hugged his waist from behind.

"Where are you going?"

"To Tarbes." Dante replied his eyes glowing balefully blue.

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to go save them."

Louise grabbed his arm, as the devil hunter tried to shake him off, but she firmly clung on.

"You can't! It's a war! Even if you went, it wouldn't make a difference!"

Though she said that, she knew that Dante has enough power to destroy an entire army.

"You do realize who I am, right? The enemy is attacking with those airships right? Well, this baby can fly too. Besides that, I'll figure something out along the way."

"What can you do with a toy like this?"

"This isn't a toy."

"He said that Tristain's fleet had been wiped out didn't he?"

Dante slowly patted Louise on the head and spoke in a low voice.

"It might not amount to anything. But…"

"But what?"

"I don't fully understand why I got here. Maybe it was just an accident, or maybe its fate. If I were just a normal, regular person, I wouldn't have thought of going to save them. But it's different. I have the power to do so. I might be able to save them. I can perhaps save Siesta, her family… and those villagers."

Dante remembered the times that he should have saved people but couldn't because of his powerlessness. Now he can do something, this is one of his driving forces behind his campaign during the years he had been devil-hunting, besides the revenge thing.

"But..." Louise tries to object,

"I know how worried you are about this. I'll be fine, thanks for caring." Dante gives a brotherly grin to the pinkette.

Louise's face turned red.

"I'm not from this world. But you guys took care of me during my stay here. I don't necessarily have to care what happens to this world, but I want to at least protect the people who have treated me. Well, if I couldn't protect the rest of the people." Dante states,

This statement reminded her of her mother's tales of Sparda.

'Taking up his sword, Sparda fights to protect the innocent.'

Louise's face started to distort as she tried to hold back her tears.

"If you die, what will I do…? No… I, if you die…"

"I won't die. I will come back. If I die, I won't be able to protect you right?"

Louise thought for a while in a cute pose, and then she said,

"I'm going as well."

"No. You're staying here."

"No, I'm going as well."

"You can't."

Dante separated himself from Louise and climbed into the cockpit from the wing.

Suddenly he realized.

How on earth will he be to lift the plane in such a short strip?

Dante left Louise there and rushed off to Colbert's laboratory. With her fists tightly clenched, she groaned.

'Why was he so stubborn! Even though I said it would be dangerous…' Louise bit her lip and held back her tears. Nothing would come from crying.

She forgot the fact that Dante is basically immortal.

Louise looked at the Biplane as if asking it.

As if the inanimate object could reply.

"What chance does this thing have of winning against Albion's forces!" she asks herself,

After a while, as Dante checked the Academy Dorms for Colbert, he remembered that he forgot to ask where Colbert's room is.

But then again, why would a guy be asking other people, where another guy's room, in the middle of the night?

Since he had no one else to ask for assistance, a crazy idea hit him.

Louise was nowhere to be seen. He was relieved. If Louise had pleaded top go with him, things would be a bit harder for the devil hunter to move about.

Dante sat in the cockpit and performed the necessary operations to start the engine. The engine started with a loud noise and the propellers started to spin.

He checked the gauges, everything was normal. He checked the machine guns in front of him. Bullets were loaded. The machine guns on the wings were also loaded.

Dante grins...

Releasing the brakes, the Biplane started moving. He looked to the front and headed in the direction of the best take-off spot. "Austri" was not a small courtyard but it was a bit short for a runway.

He relaxed the pressure on the brake. He opened the cowl flaps and adjusted the propeller's pitch lever. using a magic of sorts, he put it in place. He further released the brakes and he pushed the throttle lever down, using the same method to keep it down.

Dante then leaps out of the Biplane.

Dante grins at the thought.

Grabbing the underside of the plane with his right hand, he lifts the running plane like it was just a a toy.

"What the," Derflinger wriggled out of his scabbard to comment, "What the heck are you doing?"

"Runway's too short for the plane to takeoff." Dante simply explained

"Is that so?" the sword said, noting that since this is Dante, he tends to do crazy stuff.

Then realized something...

"Are you crazy? If you're throwing the flying machine, who's flying it afterwards?" the sword blurts out,

"That would be you, at least for the moment." Dante replied,

With an idea like this. if the sword had a hand, he would have done a facepalm...

Anyone who would have seen the devil hunter at that moment, lifting a huge ass plane, they would be totally be shocked.

Positioning the plane in a position that projected 45 degree angle, Dante aims the plane similar to how a quarterback would throw a football.

"18, 23, hut...hut...hut" Dante randomly spouted stuff that is akin to a quarterback giving orders,

"Here we go."

Like a coiled spring, Dante throws the Biplane like a football, which accelerated forward with great force.

"Derf, now!"

"I officially hate you." the sword mutters.

The sword somehow pushed the control stick slightly forward with his wriggling, perfectly. The Karnival was gliding. It approached the academy's walls. Dante smirked.

"Let's go!" Dante sang, as he Air Tricked into the plane, and got in the pilot's seat, and closed the canopy.

Just as they were about to hit the wall, he pulled the control stick.

"Yee-haw!" he crowed,

The Karnival flew up in an instant. Grazing the wall slightly, the Biplane flew in the air. He retracted the landing gear. The indicator light, bottom left from the gauges turned from green to red.

The Biplane continued to ascend. Dante looked at the plane in a relieved expression.

"Well, for an old relic, you sure can fly." He commented.

"Wow! It's flying! This is pretty interesting!" Derflinger said excitedly.

"Of course it is. It was made to fly."

Under the bright sun, the Karnival once more split the winds, and rose up into the sky of another world.

"Whoohooo!" Dante shouts, feeling the wind on his face.

The fire consuming Tarbes had calmed but the area had changed into a cruel battlefield. Battalions had been assembled in the field and were awaiting the moment they would clash with Tristain troops in the port city La Rochelle. Protecting them above were the Lexington's dragons. The Tristain dragoons would attack sporadically, but they had all been forced to retreat.

Before the battle, Albion's command decided that they would use the cannons of the warships to deal with the Tristain troops. And so, the fleet prepared its cannons.

One dragoon on the lookout above Tarbes noticed an enemy dragoon was approaching from above, about two thousand five hundred meters away. The dragoon had the dragon cry out, alerting the others that an enemy was approaching.

Dante looked out from the windshield and saw Tarbes below him. There was no trace of that simple, beautiful village he had seen before. The houses were scorched with black smoke rising from them. He clenched his teeth. He remembered how recently he and Siesta were looking out at the field. Siesta's words replayed in his head.

"Isn't this field beautiful? This is what I wanted to show Dante."

A dragoon unit breathed fire at the forest located at the outskirts of the village. The forest was instantly set ablaze.

Dante bit his lip. He could taste the blood in his mouth.

"I will stop this." He said in a low voice.

Dante pushed the control stick to the bottom left while pressing the throttle firmly. The Karnival started to swoop down towards Tarbes.

"What could one dragoon possibly do?" muttered the ascending dragoons as they prepared to attack.

However, it had an unusual figure. It had two pairs of horizontal wings stretched out, one on top of the other, connected by cables to each other, as if the wings were fixed and didn't flap. It also made a thunderous roar they had never heard of before.

Did such a dragon exist in Halkeginia?

However… no matter what dragon it was, it would be finished off with a single breath from the Albion fire dragons, just like the rest. When its wings were burnt it would probably go down. Using this strategy, they had already killed two of Tristain's dragoons.

"This is the third," said a dragoon awaiting the descending enemy, with the corner of his mouth bending into a smile.

He was surprised. It was fast.

Faster than any dragon.

Panicking, the dragoon made the dragon breathe fire. At that moment, the wing of the descending enemy flashed. Countless number of shining white things were flying towards him. Large holes appeared on the wings and the body of the dragon. A round entered the dragon's mouth. A fire dragon has pockets of oil for strong combustion in its throat. The autocannon shells caught one of the oil pockets. The fire dragon exploded.

Slipping by the dragon that had exploded in midair, Dante continued to descend in the Karnival. The fighter's machine gun range was tens of times than that of the dragon's breaths. Letting his rage take control of him, he fired the pair of 20mm autocannon shells and the 7.7mm machine gun on both wings at the dragoons.

Four more dragons fluttered in the skies above the village. They had seen the dragon which exploded from the enemy's attack. The attack wasn't a breath.

Which meant that it was probably a magic based attack. Whatever attack it may have been, one dragoon alone can't do anything. Three dragoons ascended to attack.

"Three more are coming from the bottom left," said Derflinger in his usual tone.

Three dragoons were spread out below him and ascending.

"Don't get hit by their breath. You'll get burnt to ashes in an instant."

Dante nodded. He did a hundred and eighty degrees turn above the dragoons. Drawing a path similar to spiraling down a funnel in a bottle, he ended up behind the dragoons. The dragoons couldn't catch up. The speed of the fire dragons was about 150km/hr. The Biplane's speed was close to 400km/hr., much faster than a regular biplane.

Then again, this is Dante flying the damn thing.

To Dante, this was like attacking shooting fish in the barrel.

Well, more like shooting fish in a coma.

Dante has no time to think of fair play as to lives are at state here.

By the time the panicking dragoons had turned around, they had already been clearly targeted. Dante readied the pointer on the glass pane of the sighting device and pressed the throttle lever's fire button.

With a dull sound followed by the shaking of the plane, the autocannons on both wings opened fire. The wings of the fire dragons broke, and they went spiraling down.

In the next instant, Dante had put his foot down on the right foot bar and glided the Karnival, taking aim at the next dragon. Dante fired again. Taking numerous hits from the autocannons on its torso, the fire dragon shrieked in pain and dropped towards the ground.

He took careful note of not hitting the mages riding the creatures.

At least he knew that these guys are hardasses and could cast a 'Float' Spell should they ever fall down.

When the third had suddenly dived in an attempt to escape, the 7.7mm machine gun filled its body with punctured holes. The fire dragon died and dropped straight down.

Dante quickly made the airplane ascend, controlling the plane naturally. He switched the velocity level to high. Against dragons, the Karnival which had a reciprocating engine; had the most advantage at those speeds. As the Biplane descended, the velocity would increase. The first thing to do was to control the area above the enemy. With his earlier experience with piloting, he maneuvered the Biplane like a veteran.

Derflinger, who was looking out for him, told him his next target.

Dante still wondered how the damn sword was able to see, though it seems to have no signs of eyes indicated in any of its parts.

Just as he was about direct the plane there, he heard a voice behind him.

"T-T-T-That's incredible! These Albion dragons are reputed to be unrivaled yet they're dropping like flies!"

Startled, Dante looked backwards. Louise's head popped out from the passenger seat behind Dante.

Seem like Louise had slipped in.

'Crap.'

"You were here all this time! Get off!"

"There's no way I can get off now!"

"Oh, right."

Louise's hands held the Founder's Prayer Book. It seems like she didn't go anywhere like he had thought and instead slipped inside the plane.

"It's dangerous! You idiot!"

Louise firmly wrung his neck.

"Don't forget!"

"You. Are. My. Summoned Being. So. Don't. Just. Go. Do. What. You. Want! I. Will. Not. Forgive. You. Understand!"

As the engine drowned out her voice, she shouted in his ears.

"I'm your master! If the master doesn't lead the way, then the familiar won't listen! And I would hate that!"

Dante drooped his shoulders, sighing heavily.

It seems that saying things like "It's dangerous, don't come" had absolutely no effect on Louise.

"What happens if you die?"

"Then try harder! Even if you or I die, I will still find some way to kill you!" She shouted at Dante with her eyes open.

Dante felt a headache coming from the absurd things coming out of her mouth.

"Partner, sorry for interrupting but…"

"What?"

"Ten from the right have just arrived."

The fire dragon's breath came flying to them. At that instant, he pushed the control stick quickly to the left. The plane rolled and dodged the breath of the dragon. Louise fell down in the plane with a small cry.

"Control it more elegantly!"

Dante shouted, "Don't say ridiculous things!", and made the plane descend. The dragoons couldn't follow his movements. Taking advantage of this moment, he made the plane ascend, and at its peak he turned it around. With the sun behind him, he descended again. Aiming at the dragoons who were chasing him before, he fired the autocannons and the machine guns at them.

Louise, who had fallen down in the plane, was about to cry from the terror. "Perhaps I really shouldn't have come?" Her fear asked her. She bit her lip and grasped the Founder's Prayer Book tightly. Didn't I sneak on because I couldn't let Dante die? Hey, don't pretend as if you're fighting alone, I'm also fighting!

Even so, she couldn't do anything. It was always like this, but this time she felt a tinge of regret.

But nevertheless, losing to your fear won't accomplish anything.

She searched her pockets for the Water Ruby ring Henrietta gave her, and put it on. She grasped that finger tightly.

"Princess, please protect us…" she whispered.

She patted the Founder's Prayer Book in her right hand softly.

In the end, she hadn't finished the edict. She cursed her own lack of poetic talent. She was hoping to think of the edict on the carriage to Germania.

'That's right. I was going to go to Henrietta's wedding ceremony. I was waiting outside the academy's gates for the carriage to arrive. I then learned war had broken out. Destiny is a cynical thing.'

She opened the Founder's Prayer Book while muttering to herself. She was planning to pray to the Founder for their safety. She opened the book and flipped to a random page. The Water Ruby and the Founder's Prayer Book suddenly shone, taking Louise by surprise.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

"They got… wiped out? In only twelve minutes they got wiped out?"

Sir Johnston, the supreme commander of the invasion force, who was on the afterdeck of the flagship, Lexington, looking over the preparations of the bombardment attack with the ship's cannons, turned pale at the report.

"How many enemy units were there? A hundred? Tristain has that many dragoons left?"

"Sir. A-According to the report, only one."

"A single unit?"

Johnston stood motionless with a dumbfounded expression. He threw his hat to the ground.

"Nonsense! Twenty dragoons taken out by a single enemy unit? Surely you jest!"

Frightened at the supreme commander's attitude, the messenger took a step back.

"According to the report, the enemy dragoon had incredible speed and agility, and also had strong, long ranged, magic based attacks. Our units were killed one by one…"

Johnston grabbed the messenger.

"What about Cobalt? Cobalt, who was given command of the dragoons, what about him? What happened to that cocky bastard? Was he also killed?"

"The Master Cobalt's wind dragon was not included in the list of casualties. But… it seems like he wasn't seen around…"

"So he betrayed us! Or otherwise he was too much of a coward! Whichever it was, we can't trust him…"

Quietly reaching out his hands, Bowood said, "Reacting like that in front of all the soldiers will lower their morale, commander in chief."

Enraged, Johnston took his anger out on Bowood.

"What are you saying? It's your fault that the dragoons got wiped out! Your lack of competence was just asking for our precious dragoons to be destroyed! I will report this to His Excellency. I will report it!" Johnston yelled as he reached out to grab Bowood.

Bowood drew his wand and jabbed Johnston's stomach. The white of his eyes showing, Johnston fainted to the ground. He ordered the soldiers to carry him away.

'Should have just made him sleep in the first place,' Bowood thought.

Noise apart from that of explosions and cannons only agitated the troops. A single decision could be the difference between victory and defeat, especially during battle.

Bowood turned to the messenger who was staring at him with a worried expression. He spoke with a calm, composed voice.

"Even though the dragoon force has been wiped out, the Lexington is still undamaged. Also, Cobalt has probably devised a plan. Don't worry about it; just put effort in what you're doing."

"A single unit killing twenty units? A hero, eh…" Bowood whispered.

But at most a hero. And thus only an individual. No matter how much power an individual holds, there'll be things he can change and things he can't change.

"And this ship is the latter," Bowood whispered.

He issued orders.

"Advance the entire fleet. Prepare the left cannons."

After a while, far away, at the other end of the field of Tarbes, the battle array of Tristain's troops, situated in La Rochelle, which was a natural stronghold due to the mountains around it, could be seen.

"All fleets advance slowly. Ship to starboard."

The fleet turned so that the Tristain forces would be facing their left side.

"Fire the left cannons. Continue firing until further orders."

"Upper part and the lower part, prepare the right cannons. Use grapeshot."

Five hundred meters in front of the Tristain troops crowded within La Rochelle, the enemy force could be seen. It had the three colored Reconquista flag, and was approaching quietly. Having never actually seen an enemy before, Henrietta, mounted on a unicorn, was shaking. She closed her eyes to offer a prayer so that the soldiers around her wouldn't see her shaking in fear.

But… her fear did not stop so easily.

Henrietta looked up at the large enemy fleet and turned pale. It was Albion's fleet. The side of the fleet flashed. It was enemy fire. The cannon shells accelerated by gravity were flying towards Tristain's troops.

Impact.

Hundred of cannon shells dropped down on the troops in La Rochelle. Rocks, horses and people were thrown together, sent flying through the air. The troops were trying to flee from the overwhelming might before them. The place was drowned by the sound of thunderous roars.

"Calm down! Everyone calm down!" Henrietta shouted, driven by her fear.

Mazarin whispered in Henrietta's ear.

"You need to calm down first. If the general is distraught, there'll be chaos in the blink of an eye."

Mazarin quickly whispered to the generals nearby. While Tristain was a small country, it was one filled with history. Its history included many righteous nobles. Of all the Halkaganian nations, the Tristain army had the highest percentage of mages within its ranks.

By Mazarin's command, the nobles created barriers of air within the openings of the mountains. The shells would hit them and break. But some of the shells got through. Screams could be heard with rocks and blood scattering.

"As soon as the enemy stops their bombardment, they will most likely stage an all out assault. There's no other way but to face them," whispered Mazarin.

"Is there a chance of being victorious?"

Mazarin noticed that the soldiers were starting to tremble before the enemy bombardment. They had advanced with great vigor but… there are limits to people's courage. He did not want to tell the truth to the princess who had made him remember something he had forgotten.

"We're evenly matched."

Impact. The ground below them shook like an earthquake.

Marzarin sorrowfully understood the situation.

Three thousand strong troops formed the enemy's numbers, while their forces, crumbling from the bombardment, only numbered two thousand.

They had no chance.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Louise looked at the letters that appeared in the light.

It was… written in ancient runes. As Louise took lessons seriously, she could read the ancient language.

Louise chased the letters in the light.

Foreword.

Henceforth, I shall record the truth I know. All materials in the world are comprised of fine grains. The four branches intervene with these fine grains and apply an influence, which transform them into spells. This was how "Fire", "Water", "Wind" and "Earth" became.

Louise was filled with curiosity. With an impatient feeling, she turned the page.

The gods bestowed upon me a greater strength. The fine grains, which the four branches bore influence over, are comprised of even finer grains. The power bestowed upon me by the gods, does not belong to any of the four. The branch I wield intervenes with even finer grains and applies an influence, transforming them into spells. A Zero that belongs to neither of the four. This so-called Zero is "Void". I name the Zero the gods have bestowed upon me "Void".

"The branch of Void… that's my affinity?"

Whispering to herself, Louise turned the page. Her pulse was racing.

Dante, who had wiped out the dragoon fleet, looked over the sky. Above the fields, he spotted the large warship between the gaps of the clouds, far away. Below that ship, was the port city La Rochelle.

"Partner, that's the head. No matter how many small fry you take down, if you don't take it down… nothing will change…"

"I know."

"It's impossible."

Dante remained silent and opened the throttle of the Karnival. It was at full boost. The Biplane ascended towards the large warship.

"It's impossible, partner. No matter how much you try, it is impossible."

Derflinger, who had evaluated the power difference, told Dante in his usual tone. However, Dante did not respond.

"I understand… but your partner is a crazy bastard." The devil hunter finally replied,

Dante brought the Biplane closer.

The right side of the ship shone. Aimed at Dante's Biplane, something was flying towards him. They were countless numbers of lead bullets. They pierced the plane with holes while shaking it. Breaking the windshield, a shard grazed Dante's cheek. A trickle of blood ran down his face, and quickly healed.

"Don't go near it! They're using grapeshot!" yelled Derflinger.

Dante made the Biplane do a sudden dive, avoiding the second round of fire.

"Damn, they put small bullets in those large cannons!"

Dante bit his lip.

He couldn't even get close to the ship, much less sink it.

He could have done better if Louise didn't come along for the ride.

With Pandora, this would be an easy task.

But with its power, the enemy would be wiped out.

Then again, enemies they may be but they are still humans.

"Screw this."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Behind the seat, Louise had lost herself in reading the Founder's Prayer book. The thunderous noises did not reach her ears. She could only hear her own pulse getting louder and louder.

The one who is able to read this, will inherit my deeds, thoughts and objectives. They will become the bearer of this power. Be mindful, wielder of this power. For my brethren and I, who have died unfulfilled, you should strive towards retaking the "Holy Lands" stolen by the enemy. "Void" is powerful. Yet, the incantations are of great length and consume much energy. Take heed, incantator. At times, your life will diminish depending on the power. Thus, I choose the reader of this book. Even when one not qualified wears the ring, they cannot open this book. Only when the chosen reader wears a ring of "The four branches" can they open this book.

Brimir Ru Rumiru Yuru Viri Vee Varutori

Following, are my recordings of the "Void" spells I used. The first step of the very beginning. "Explosion".

A spell in the ancient language followed after that. Dumbfounded, Louise whispered, "Founder Brimir, aren't you forgetting something? If I wasn't wearing this ring, I wouldn't be able to read the Founder's Prayer Book right? The stuff about the chosen reader… and the "take heed" section has no meaning then."

And then she realized. Chosen reader… that means…

'I'm the chosen reader?'

'I don't really understand but… I can read the words. If I can read it, I can probably perform this spell written here.'

Louise remembered, before Dante solved the first part of her problem, how every time she recited an incantation, an explosion would result.

'That's… in other words, that's the "Void" written about here?'

When she thought about it, before Dante, no one could tell her the reason why she made things explode. Her parents, her sisters, and her teachers… her friends as well… they only laughed at her for being a "failure". They didn't think anything of the explosions.

'Perhaps I really am the chosen reader.'

'I can't really believe it, but I perhaps am the chosen reader.'

'This might be worth trying out.'

And also… There's nothing else to fall back on now.

She was calm and cool. The runes she had just looked at were on the tip of her tongue as if they had greeted one another many times.

Like the lullabies she had heard in the past, the spell's tune was somewhat similar.

'I'm going to try it.'

Louise stood up.

From the passenger seat, she started making her way to the front through the small hole behind the pilot's seat.

"What are you doing? Just stay still! Argh! I can't see in front of me! Hey!"

Like a snake, she slipped through with the gap with her small body. She made her way to the front of the seat, where Dante was sitting. She sat her small bottom down in between Dante's widened legs.

"…I can't believe it but… I can't really say it but… I might have been chosen. This could be some mistake though." Louise muttered.

"Hah?"

"Just listen to me. Fly near the warship. It might just be a hoax… but trying it out is better than not doing anything. Besides, there's no other way to sink that warship…. The only way is for me to do it. I understand. I'll try it."

Dante was dumbfounded by Louise's ramble to herself.

"Are you alright? You've finally gone crazy from being scared?"

Louise shouted at Dante.

"I told you to go near it didn't I? I'm your master! Familiars obey their master's orders obediently!"

"Oh, so I'm a familiar now?"

It was useless to oppose Louise when she used that threatening attitude.

"Girls..." The devil hunter can't help but comment.

Dante reluctantly approached the large warship.

An peal of gunfire from the Airship's cannons,

The grapeshot flew towards them. Going around to the left side would probably have the same result. The ship also had cannons sticking out from the bottom as well. The Lexington was like a porcupine with cannons.

"What are you doing?"

"It's impossible! I can't get near it!"

As if suddenly thinking of something, Derflinger opened its mouth.

"Partner, go straight above the ship."

"Eh?"

"There's a blind spot there. It's where the cannons can't reach."

Dante rose above the Lexington like he was told.

Louise straddled Dante's shoulders. She opened the canopy. A strong wind blew across her face.

"Hey what are you doing? Close it!"

"Until I give you the signal, keep circling around here."

Louise took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Then, as if she were flaring up, she opened her eyes and started to read the runes written in the Founder's Prayer Book.

She read the spell amongst the roar of the engine. Dante was circling above the Lexington in the Biplane like he was told.

It was at that moment.

"Partner, behind you!"

Quickly looking behind, a dragoon could be seen flying towards them like a gale.

It was Cobalt.

Mounted on top of the wind dragon, Cobalt grinned. He had been hidden amongst the clouds above the Lexington, waiting for his chance to strike. So this was the mysterious dragoon who had crushed all the fire dragons. Cobalt didn't have much chance of winning if he faced him front on.

Which is why he had to aim for a weak spot.

His plan hinged on the warship. The enemy's aim would definitely be this warship. And if he was a skilled enemy, he would be able to find its blind spot. Thus, hiding nearby and waiting was the best option. Cobalt' prediction was right.

His target started to dive.

I see… he avoided the fire dragons like that.

But, my wind dragon's speed is greater than that of the fire dragons.

Cobalt steadily shortened the distance separating them.

With deep interest, he looked at the Biplane.

It's not a dragon. That's… not something made from Halkeginia's logic… the "Holy Lands"?

He saw a familiar face, with pinkish blond hair, inside the cockpit. The grin on Cobalt' face grew larger.

'So it's you…'

Then the one controlling the psuedo-dragon would be…

His left arm throbbed.

His wind dragon's breath wasn't of any use, but he had his powerful spells. Gripping the reins with his right hand, a slight glow could be seen through it, Cobalt summons an array of ethereal long bladed spears with the single, express purpose; to skewer their targets.

He lets them fly.

Dante couldn't lose the dragon that was following them. With Louise riding his shoulders, Dante was beginning to feel frustrated.

"Dammit." He inwardly swears,

He set the throttle to minimum and opened all the flaps. As if something had grabbed the Biplane, its speed dropped.

He pushed the control stick to the bottom left. At the same time, he stepped on the foot bar. The vivid earth and sky rotated before them.

The Biplane had disappeared from Cobalt' sight, who had just finished casting the spears, and missed their targets. He looked around him restlessly. They weren't anywhere to be seen. However, sensing a tinge of a murderous intent from behind , Cobalt' turned around. The Biplane was smoothly spiraling down as if tracing a path inside a bottle. It quickly got behind Cobalt' wind dragon. Followed by a bright light, the machine gun bullets tore through the wind dragon, which had thinner scales than the fire dragons. Cobalt was hit in the shoulder and back and his face distorted in pain. The wind dragon gave out a shriek. As if slowly gliding down, the dragon Cobalt rode crashed to the ground.

"As much as I would like to have a match with you dude, I don't have the time just yet."

Dante ascended the Biplane once more. Even while he did those maneuvers Louise straddled onto Dante's shoulders firmly. Then again, Louise was very skilled at horse riding. Louise continued her incantation in a low voice.

'What the heck is she doing?' Dante thought.

Then a realization hit him.

'Shit, Don't tell me.'

"Eoruu Suunu Firu Yarunsakusa"

A rhythm had started pulsating through Louise. She felt as though knew the rhythm from somewhere. With every word of the incantation, the rhythm grew stronger. It sharpened her senses, while not a single noise around reached her ears. It was as if something within her body was born, and was searching for a destination… Louise remembered what she was told once.

'When you recite an incantation of your own branch, a feeling similar to what she was feeling would be felt. Is it really what I'm feeling? Me, who has always been despised for being a zero. Me, who was said to have no talent in magic by teachers, parents, sisters and students. Is this the real me?'

"Osu Suunu Uryu Ru Rado"

She could feel a wave being born inside of her, slowly swelling.

"Beoozusu Yuru Suvyueru Kano Oshera"

The wave inside her, searching for a destination, went berserk. Louise gave Dante a signal with her leg. Dante nodded and pushed the control stick down. The Biplane began to swoop down at the Lexington below them. Opening her eyes, she timed her incantation.

' legendary branch of magic, I wonder how powerful it is?' Dante reflected

No one knows.

'Of course, there'd be no reason I'd know. This was supposedly beyond legendary.'

"Jera Isa Unjyuu Hagaru Beookun Iru…"

After the long incantation, the spell was complete. At that moment, Louise understood the power of the spell. It would swallow everyone.

Every person in her vision would be swallowed by her spell. There were two options. Kill, or don't kill. What was she meant to destroy? With the winds blowing against her face, she looked down.

So much power.

At that moment, she became a being akin to a god.

And this fact doesn't escape the devil hunter, as the same power nearly overwhelms his own.

A large warship appeared before her eyes. The Lexington. Following her impulse, she aimed at a single point and swung her wand down.

"Explosion!"

An unbelievable scene unfolded before Henrietta's eyes. The warship that had been bombarding them… A ball of light had appeared in the sky.

It was like a smaller version of the sun, and it expanded. And… it swallowed it. It had swallowed the warship in the sky. The light continued to expand until it was all she could see. There was complete silence.

Henrietta suddenly closed her eyes on impulse. The light of the sphere was so intense that anyone would think that their eyes would burn from staring at it.

And then… after the light had faded, the whole fleet was on fire. The fleet led by the Lexington had all their sails and decks burning. As if it were a lie, the head of the fleet that had been tormenting the Tristain troops, sank to the ground.

A tremor in the earth could be felt. The fleet had come crashing down. Henrietta was dumbfounded. Complete silence overcame them. Everyone stared at the unbelievable scene.

The first one to come to his senses was Cardinal Mazarin. He was looking at the silvery wings, shining under the sun in the sky. It was Dante's Karnival.

Mazarin cried out, "People! Look! The enemy fleet has been destroyed by the legendary Phoenix!"

"Phoenix? The immortal bird?"

A commotion spread through the troops.

"Look at that bird flying in the sky! That's the legendary bird that's said to come at Tristain's hour of need! The Phoenix! The Founder have blessed us!"

Shouts of joy could be heard everywhere.

"Long live Tristain! Long live the Phoenix!"

Henrietta asked Mazarin quietly, "Cardinal, the Phoenix… was it the truth? I haven't heard of anything called the legendary Phoenix…"

Mazarin mischievously smiled, and shrugged.

"It's a big lie. But, everyone's sense of judgement is lost at the moment. They can't believe the scene they saw. Neither can I. However, the truth is that there was an unfamiliar bird fluttering about after the enemy fleet had fallen. There was no choice but to use it."

"Hah…"

"What? No one cares if what I said was the truth or a lie. What they do care about is whether they're dead or alive. In other words, victory or defeat."

Mazarin peered into the princess's eyes.

"You must use everything that you can use. It's one of the basics of politics and war. Remember it well, Princess. Because from today onwards, you are the ruler of Tristain."

Henrietta nodded. It was just as the Cardinal had said. The thinking… could come later.

"The enemy's morale will be low and they will no doubt be trying to flee. Their supporting fleet is now gone. There's not a better chance to strike."

"Yes."

"Princess. Shall we go forwards to victory?" asked Mazarin.

Henrietta nodded strongly once again. She held up her shining crystal wand.

"All troops, charge! Royal troops, follow me!"

As the rest of the troops followed suit to attack…not noticing what happened to the plane next.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Tired, Louise cuddled with Dante.

"Hey Louise."

"Hm?" replied Louise, absentmindedly.

He patted Louise gently on the head.

A feeling of fatigue overcame her. But this was a nice tired feeling. It was fatigue that came with the satisfaction of accomplishing something.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Is that what I think it is?"

"It's a Void Spell."

"Is that so?"

'That is some powerful stuff' Dante thought,

"I'll explain later. I'm tired."

Dante nodded and smiled. He patted Louise gently on the head.

Below them, the Tristain troops had just charged at the Albion forces. The vigor of the Tristain troops was obvious even to a novice. It was vigor that even would triumph against enemies that outnumbered them.

"Yeah, later is fine."

Suddenly, an ethereal blue spear pierces the biplane,

Then another,

Then another,

And another…

'Cobalt.'

Dante frantically shields the unconscious Louise as the Karnival starts to fall from the sky…

And finally the biplane finally breaks from the impacts made by the spears.

Cobalt could be seen as he appears to have magically produced a massive ethereal dragon. From both heavily bandaged hands, glowing lights could be seen peeking through. As well as his head.

"Danteeee!" Cobalt shouts, as he goads the magically produced creature into a sweeping attack.

Forcing Dante to separate from his charge.

"LOUISE!" Dante shouts to the falling unconscious form.

The cloaked assassin flinched upon hearing Dante shout.

But a jolt puts the assassin's thoughts in line.

"Time for you to go now… son of Sparda." Cobalt coldly said as he creates a massive bunch of bladed weapons, all aimed at Dante.

He launches the weapons all at once, in a speed that surpasses bullets.

Unfortunately, the falling Louise is in the path of the blades as well…

"Crap!"

Dante draws Ebony and Ivory to deflect them all…

But due to the huge number of the projectiles… it seems impossible,

He needs a Devil Arm,

Then Dante heard a voice in his mind,

"Only when I fall shall I rise…"

A bright white light covers the devil hunters as the ethereal spears tried to enter the ball of light,

Only to be destroyed.

As the light fades, a figure could be seen.

A winged man.

It was Dante, holding a still unconscious Louise in his arms.

He is held aloft by a pair of white, gold trimmed steel-like wings.

And he's wearing a bird themed, beautifully ornamented gold trimmed white breastplate, clawed gauntlets and greaves made of organic metal.

Meet one of the old Devil Arms,

The Icarus.

Cobalt was undaunted by the turn of events as he prepares a new wave of a variety of blades to cast, but stops…

Looking at the still form of Dante's contractor, then at the falling wreckages that was once the pride of Albion,

Cobalt sighs and said, "Well now. It seemed that Cromwell's plan has been foiled. I suppose, this calls for a tactical retreat…"

"Hey, wait a minute! We're not finished yet!" Dante tries to call the assassin, as he disappears like a fog, fading from existence, as well as the ethereal creature that he's riding.

"Don't worry, we'll have our rematch soon." Cobalt's voice echoed, leaving the frustrated Dante,

"Cobalt…"

Looking at the scorched and blackened village, Dante wondered if Siesta was alright.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

That evening… With her siblings, Siesta timidly came out of the forest. News that the Albion troops had been defeated reached the village people who had taken shelter in the forest.

Albion's troops were crushed by Tristain's charge, and many had surrendered. Well, there weren't any Albion soldiers strutting along the village around noon. The angry bellows, the clash of arms and the explosions had ended. Black smoke rose from the field, but the battle had ended.

A thunderous noise could be heard in the skies above. After looking up, a familiar object was flying in the sky. It was the "Dragon's Raiment". Siesta's face brightened.

Dante restored Icarus into Karnival's form.

There's no need to scare the villages even further with its monstrous version,

When the Karnival landed on the field, Dante opened the canopy. Someone from the forest, south of the village, came running towards him. It was Siesta. Dante jumped off the Biplane and ran towards her.

Louise watched Dante as he was running off and sighed. "Well, I guess it's good that that girl is still alive, but couldn't he spend more time consoling me? The spell just then… "Explosion" of the Void magic branch. It seems like it didn't happen. Perhaps it doesn't feel real because it was Void magic. As the chosen "User of Void magic"? Is there some misunderstanding? But it explained how I was able to give Dante the legendary Windálfr familiar powers. There are lots of legends, aren't there," she whispered.

"In any case, it'll probably be busy from here on. I really feel as if this didn't happen… and I can't believe that I'm the one mentioned in the legend…" Louise sighed. If this were a dream, I would be so relieved. But I've decided not to think too much about it. I should learn from that idiot familiar of mine. Although he's the legendary familiar, he doesn't seem like it at all. But perhaps that is for the best. Anyway, this "legend" stuff is too much for me.

"Hey, legendary mage."

"What, legendary sword?"

Derflinger had called out to Louise in a teasing tone.

"It's okay to be stubborn… but if you don't go after him, Dante might get taken by that village girl."

Louise's cheeks went red.

"I don't mind."

"Really?" whispered Derflinger.

Giving a cry of frustration Louise hopped out of the cockpit and chased after Dante. Derflinger watched Louise's running figure and said in large voice.

"And she even understands that she's the one mentioned in the legend… Perhaps her older brother of sorts is more important to her. Humans around this age are beyond help."

The Founder's Prayer Book, the Void magic branch… they completely left Louise's mind for the time being.

'If I don't go after Dante, he'll be gone somewhere.'

'If I don't open my eyes wide and run, I'll be left behind.'

'But, if it's going to be like that… I'll just continue chasing him.'

'I'll chase him wherever he goes… and when he turns around, I'll hit him good.'

"That's a good little sister," Derflinger snickers.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

In the distance another figure watched the fiasco…

Dressed in strange, dark tight-fitting clothes that seemed to blend in the surrounding environment, the figure observed as he smokes a lit cigarette.

He then turns around after a while and walks away…

"Looks like I'm not needed after all." he states sadly, retying his black bandanna as his hair is being messed up by the wind.

Then the figure stops and wonders…

'Why the heck am I here, anyway?' he thought, scratching his head, as he sat on a man-sized box which inexplicably appeared beside him.

Suddenly, the veiled woman appears in front of the man, as she casts a spell or something, making the confused man disappear.

"Wait-" was all the man could utter…

Silence.

The veiled lady looks around, and shrugs.

"Don't mind him, he's just looking for screentime." She said and grins at no one in particular.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

What do you think…?

With this tale,'s chapter, I begin to ask myself

Shall I continue?

After publishing the Chapter with the H part… I'm not too sure…

Please do review..

Could I ask you guys if you have a job to work part-time? XD

Thanks for the patronage...

Laters...


	19. Mission 19 : Subtle Foreshadowing

Author's rant:

Hello there, I was have been reading the reviews as of late, and a lot of them contains the "Rape" scene comments, I must tell you guys, that was not "Rape", its a surprise intimate interaction between two consenting adults, species aside.

SURPRISE!

It is a part of the plot so to those who were shocked… this is just a beginning of possible horrors…

Maybe,

To be honest I still have no idea how this story will turn out…review or I'll have a certain famous mercenary in a box sneak up on ya!

I guess that most of you are probably shocked at the sudden turn of events, since I set it up to be that way; a mostly fun story, uh, mostly.

Anybody else guess who our late comer in the last chapter was?

If not, then you = Mission Failed… : D

Just a special guest who has no relevance to the plot whatsoever, so there.

Please read the scene again if you don't get it.

Complacency… :D

Well, no time like the present as we go through a mostly boring chapter.

For healing moments of boredom.

Let's Begin…

Mission 19 : Subtle Foreshadowing

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Fantasy Pic: Cobalt plays with a string puppet version of Louise on his left, and another puppet that looks strangely like Saito Hiiraga on his right hand, looking rather crisply burnt for some reason. Dante looks confused at the scene as he looks on from the background.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

On the Bourdonné Street in the town below the Tristain castle, a magnificent parade was being held in commemoration of their victory. The parade was led by Princess Henrietta's chariot, which was pulled along by the legendary beasts known as unicorns. Renowned nobles in their chariots followed after her. Around them, the magical defence squad served as their bodyguards.

The narrow road was filled with spectators. People cheered as they watched from the windows and roofs of the buildings as the chariots passed by.

"Long live Princess Henrietta!"

"Long live Tristain!"

The crowd was extremely enthusiastic. Princess Henrietta had led the Tristain forces to victory at the Plains of Tarbes the other day against the Albion forces who had broken their treaty. Princess Henrietta, who had defeated the enemy which outnumbered them, was praised as a 'saint' and was as popular as could be.

After the parade was over, a coronation was awaiting Henrietta, in which she was to assume the throne. This was proposed by Cardinal Mazarin, with most of the court's nobles and cabinet ministers agreeing.

The marriage of the prince of the neighboring country, Germania, with Henrietta was canceled, much to their disappointment. After all, they could not afford to be unyielding to a country that defeated the invading forces of Albion.

Of course, cancellation of the alliance was out of the question. Tristain was a strong country that Germania, who was frightened of the wrath of Albion, could not afford to be without.

In other words, Henrietta had gained her freedom through her own hands.

A party of the defeated Albion soldiers were watching the triumphant return in the corner of the plaza. They were the nobles of the Albion forces who were taken as prisoners. Even though they were prisoners, they were treated fairly well. Their wands were confiscated, but they were not tied up, and could freely stand. Guards were placed around them, but none of them were thinking of escaping. When nobles are captured as prisoners, they undergo an oath. If they were to break that oath, then their honour and name would turn into ashes. For nobles, who valued honour very highly, it was the equivalent of death.

Within that party of people, there was a scorched man with a bold face. It was Sir Bowood, who was the captain of the Lexington warship, which Louise sunk by engulfing it in flames with her Void magic. He nudged at the noble beside him and spoke to him.

"Look Horatio, It's the 'saint' who defeated us"

The noble called Horatio turned his fat figure and replied.

"Hm… There hasn't been an enthronement of a princess in Halkeginia before. Even though they defeated us, the war still isn't over. Furthermore, isn't she a bit young?"

"Horatio, you should study some history. There's been one instance in Gallia and two in Tristain where the princess has been enthroned."

Horatio scratched his head.

"History you say? If so, we're just a ribbon decorating the first page of Saint Henrietta's brillant history. That light! Not only did it annihilate my ship but yours as well!"

Bowood nodded. That ball of light which shone above the Lexington expanded to a huge size in just a matter of seconds. Not only did it cause the fleet to be engulfed in flames but it also destroyed the 'wind stones' on board the ships, causing them to sink towards the ground.

What was even more surprising, was that the light did not kill a single person. The light destroyed the fleet, but had no effect on the people. They managed to glide down onto the ground with what little control they had left. The flames did injure many people but there were no casualties.

"A miraculous light… I can't believe it. I haven't even heard or seen that kind of magic before. Our country has chosen a fearsome enemy." Bowood whispered.

He called out to a soldier who was holding a large halberd.

"You. Yes, you."

Raising his eyebrows the soldier approached Bowood.

"Did you call for me, Your Excellency?"

No matter if the person was an enemy or ally, nobles are treated with respect. The soldier waited for Bowood's words in a polite manner.

"My subordinates aren't locked up are they? Are they being fed properly?"

"The soldiers who were captured are being gathered and are being invited into the Tristain forces. There is compulsory labour imposed on them but most of them should be aspiring to join our forces. After all, it was a big victory. Don't worry about their stomachs, Tristain is not such a poor country as to be considering whether or not to give prisoners food."

"Here's a cup to celebrate the 'saint's' victory."

The soldier laughed.

"Allow me to offer a cup to Your Excellency's health."

Feeling cheerful, Bowood whispered while he watched the soldier leave.

"If this annoying war ends and you go back home, what would you do, Horatio?"

"I'm going to retire from the army. I wouldn't even mind if I gave up my wand, after seeing that light."

Bowood laughed loudly.

"We think alike! I feel exactly the same"

A smile arose on Cardinal Mazarin's face while he sat next to Henrietta. It was a smile that he had not shown for ten years, a smile without worry. Opening the carriage windows, he waved his hands in response to the deafening cheer of the crowd. He was glad that the two weights on his shoulders were lightened. Internal administration and diplomacy.

He was considering leaving them to Henrietta and acting as an advisor himself.

Mazarin noticed that his new lord had a sad expression on her face. Tweaking his moustache, he asked her, "It seems that you are not feeling happy. I haven't seen you cheerful since you've stepped in this carriage."

"Why must I take the throne? Mother is here isn't she?"

"She won't even respond if we call her 'Your Majesty the Queen.' She said that she is not a king, merely the king's wife and your mother and would definitely not accept the crown."

"Why did my mother refuse to accept?"

A sad expression came over Mazarin's face.

"The queen is still mourning. She still longs for your late father."

Henrietta sighed.

"Then I'll just be like my mother. The throne can remain empty. The coronation won't proceed."

"Don't say such selfish things! Your coronation is something your mother has hoped for as well. Tristain cannot be a weak country right now. The nobles and citizens of Tristain, our allied countries as well, are hoping for you to take the throne."

Henrietta sighed again. She looked at the wind ruby on her left ring finger. It was the ring which Dante had brought back to her, a memento of Wales'. The victory that ascended her to the throne… was in a sense Wales' victory. The ring gave Henrietta courage to face the enemy.

If mother left the throne empty because she was longing for father… then I want to do the same. I don't want to become a queen.

But she could hear the crowd's cheers. As if admonishing, Mazarin quietly whispered.

"The citizens are all hoping for the coronation. Your Excellency's body is already something that is not yours."

With a cough, he continued.

"I'll explain the procedures of the coronation. So that you won't make any mistakes."

"It's only wearing a crown… Why is it such a big fuss?"

"Don't say such things. It's a holy ritual. It's a ritual where you bear the power bestowed by the founders and declare it to the world. The procedures are all a tradition."

In an air of importance, Mazarin explained the procedures.

"…Then, when the ritual is finished, your excellency will approach the queen at the altar. You will state the written vow to the founders and the gods and your mother will place the crown on you. Then everyone in Halkeginia, including me, will be addressing you as 'Your Majesty'."

A vow…

'Pledging something that I didn't really hold true in my heart… isn't that blasphemy?' thought Henrietta.

'I just can't think of myself as queen. That victory… the victory at Tarbes that ascended me to the throne was not through my leadership, but by the abundant experience and wit of the generals and Mazarin. I was only leading, I didn't do anything else. If Wales were alive right now, what would he say to me? Me, who's been given the duty of rising to the apex of power…

Wales.'

'My dearest Wales.'

The only person she had ever loved…

'Before that or even after that, the only time I have truly vowed with the words ringing true with my heart has been that one time in the Ragdorian Lake.'

The great victory and the brilliance of the coronation did not lighten Henrietta's heart from such thoughts.

She blankly stared at the parchment in her hands.

It was the report that had been delivered to Henrietta the other day. Recorded there was the interrogation of the prisoners done by a guard. There was something written about Dante's Biplane shooting down the dragoons.

A prisoner who had been a dragoon said that it flew with great agility and used powerful magic based attacks, shooting down his allies one by one. But, such a dragoon did not exist in the Tristain forces.

Puzzled by this, the guard had investigated further in the matter. A report from the village of Tarbes continued.

The 'dragon' the dragoon was using was in fact a magical item called the Dragon's Raiment belonging to the Village of Tarbes. But it seems like it wasn't a magical item, but instead an unknown machinery.

But then again, it is a magical item, posing as a machine…confusing isn't it?

Dammit, make up your mind.

The one who was controlling it was the summoned being of her friend, La Vallière. And… there was a slight hint of information regarding the light which destroyed the enemy fleet as well. That light had appeared near the flying machine.

The guard had made quite a hypothesis, that La Vallière and Dante were the source of that light. However, the guard seemed troubled whether to directly contact the two. The report ended with a request for further directions regarding the investigation.

The light which brought me victory.

The intense light that resembled the sun.

Even by thinking about the light her body grew warm.

"Was it you, Louise?" Whispered Henrietta quietly.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Meanwhile, in contrast to the excitement on Bourdonné street, the same old repetitive days continued on for the Academy of Magic. The headmaster of the academy, Osman, had praised the victory of the Kingdom's forces at Tarbes, but other than that, nothing else had happened.

But then again, they were in a school, an environment that had no place for things like politics. Even in the midst of war, the students were off somewhere doing their own things. For the nobles of Halkeginia, war was something that occurred every year. There was always some quarrel somewhere in the world. And when things got more serious, there would be an uproar, but when the battles had settled, things would be like always.

Within this process, another little war had been set in motion in the quiet Vestri courtyard.

On a bench under the warm sun, Dante opened the package in his hands.

A grin appeared on his face.

"Wow! That's great! A muffler!"

A blushing Siesta sat next to him.

"Well, um, what was it called… an aeroplane? It's cold when you're riding that right?"

It was three hours past noon. Since Siesta had something to give him, she had told him to go to the Vestri courtyard. And the present was a muffler. A muffler as white as snow.

It was warm like Siesta's soft skin.

Trust him with that comment, he's been to her after all.

"Yeah, It does get quite cold when I open the windshield."

Dante wrapped it around his neck to try it on. It was the start of summer, but the skies were cold and all the more cold when the windshield was open. During takeoff and landing he needed to stretch his head outside of the windshield to check below him. It was different from the modern airplanes were they could do everything with the windshield closed.

On the white muffler, words were written with black knitting wool. At first they looked with letters from the alphabet but on closer inspection they were Halkeginian characters, quite different from the alphabet.

"What does this say?"

"Hm? Ah, you can't read our words because you're from another world. Um, your name is written there."

"I see."Dante then channels Sparda's magic monocle and manages to read the characters written….

Dante was moved. "Ah, so that's how my name is written in this world's characters" he thought while looking at it with fascination. Five characters were grouped together, which was probably pronounced "Dante". Close to that group of characters was another group of six.

Dante already knew of it, but couldn't help but ask…

"How about this?"

"Eheh… that's my name. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. You don't like it?"

"It's cool."

Dante smiled at the maid, as he graciously lifted her chin so she could look at him in the eyes.

"I'm really happy that you knit a muffler for me." He said honestly.

It has been a while that he had received a present from a girl he was close to. He remembered the tragedies that had happened in the course of his life.

His life was a total nightmare. He hadn't had a single girlfriend to remain with him in his younger days.

Since most of them tend to end up dead…in one way or another….

Though in his later life he made girl friends (Not girlfriends, in case you're thinking it was a typo.), sex friends and the like, but he chose not to get too close to them, in fear that they will become targets of his enemies, the devils.

Besides that, he also worries of how the girl would react to him once she saw him transform to his other persona.

And so, receiving a present from a girl was enough to make him uncharacteristically teary. The fact that it was hand made raised Siesta's charm by 120%. The usual cute Siesta had been elevated to the status of an angel.

Kind of ironic since Dante is a half-devil…who inavertedly tempted the said angel.

Which she willingly succumbed.

"But is it really alright to give this to me? It must have been a lot of work to knit this." Dante said quietly.

"It's ok. You know, when the Albion forces attacked I was so scared. But when I heard the battle had ended and came out of the forest, you had already landed with that airplane right?"

Dante nodded.

"I was really, really happy. Which is why I…"

The Siesta found herself blushing. As she remembered that she had hugged Dante and kissed him on the lips passionately during that time.

The village people came out of the forest soon after. Many of them had been intently watching Dante defeat the enemy dragoons with his Biplane. They had praised Dante and Louise as heroes for crushing the enemies. Celebrations were held for three days and three nights, and both of them received treatment as fine as royalty. They had also restored Siesta's grandmother's honour, as they proved the Biplane could really fly.

During the feast, Siesta had diligently attended to Dante and drew closer to him.

Just like now, her body was leaning lightly against him.

Silently, Dante fiddled with the muffler around his neck.

"Huh?"

He noticed something.

"Siesta, the muffler is quite long…"

"Hehe… that's because it's made for doing this."

Siesta took the end of the muffler and wrapped it around her own neck. When she did that, the muffler's length was just right.

"It's made for two people?"

"Yep. You don't like it?"

There was an incredible charm as Siesta looked into his eyes after saying that. It was as if she had the eyes of a loving puppy.

How she draws the devil hunter to her charms is a mystery.

'A muffler made for two… what are you, the perfect girl? A maid like you would be a treasure in my world.'

Dante's thoughts had started to not make sense. Siesta's maid-like manner had landed a critical hit in his mind.

Siesta launched another attack. Closing her eyes she pouted her lips and leaned towards him.

Dante sighed silently.

His reaction would make him press his lips against hers.

But… the memory of her father's words during the banquet resurfaced in his mind. He had approached Dante when Siesta had left her seat for a while. He praised Dante as the hero of the village, as he had defeated the dragoons from Albion.

His smiling face however quickly wore a much more sinister expression as he directed a bloodcurdling glare at Dante.

"You're the saviour of this village, and the hero that protected Tristain from Albion. I love you for that. But…"

"But, what?"

"If you make my daughter cry, I will kill you."

Dante would never forget her father's face as he said that. It was more daunting than orcs, dragoons, even Louise's magic that destroyed the enemy fleet.

He was reminded of a work partner he had in his early days as a mercenary…

How the old snake doted and defended his daughters is rather similar to how Siesta's Father did just now…

'Grue…this one's for you. You old bastard.' Dante thought as he downed a shot of concentrated wine before facing Siesta's Father's glare with a serious glare of his own.

The old man, could not help but gulp in fear, for once in his life.

"Don't worry, sir. I won't do that to your daughter. About killing me, believe me when I say, many tried, all of them failed." Dante honestly replied,

After that the old man warmed up to the devil hunter, as he became his unofficial drinking partner for the night.

He, after all have already made a move on Siesta. Although he was someone who belonged in another world, she remained steadfastly devoted to him, even when he mentioned his situation, she said that she will wait…

As Siesta's lips approached even closer, his reflections had started to fade away.

Since Dante wasn't moving any closer, it seemed Siesta was planning to close the distance between them herself. Grabbing Dante's head, she daringly drew him in. Siesta was a girl who was unbelievably daring when she was daring.

Dante couldn't resist.

And with loud thud, a large rock was thrown at his head.

For some reason, the rock seemed charged with magic, as Dante fainted from the hit.

A box with eyeholes moved impossibly fast away from the scene and into a…

About 15 metres behind the bench where Siesta and Dante were seated, was a gaping hole in the ground. In it, was a girl catching her breath as she popped out of the box she was hiding in earlier.

It was none other than Louise.

Louise stamped her feet. Beside her, was the large mole that had dug the hole, Verdandi and the intelligent sword, Derflinger. After making Guische's mole dig the hole, Louise hid in it, popping her head up to quietly watch over Dante and Siesta. She had brought Derflinger along since she had things she wanted to ask him.

As if she was not satisfied, she also sneaked closer to them, while hiding under a light wooden box with eyeholes to see through.

"What's with that man?"

Grumbling, as she hit the wall of the hole with her fist.

"Don't die Dante!" could be heard from the bench, as Siesta tended to Dante. Louise had thrown the rock that hit Dante in the head. It was unforgivable to kiss another girl since he was her guardian being.

"Hey, noble girl." said Derflinger with an expressionless voice.

"What? Start remembering my name already."

"Who cares about that? Moreover, has it become popular to dig holes and hide in boxes to watch over their guardians?"

"Why would it be popular?"

"Then why are you doing this?"

"If I'm seen I'm going to look bad." Louise said while glaring at the sword.

"Then isn't it better to just stop peeping at him? It's okay to leave him to do whatever he likes right?"

"No it's not okay. That idiot Dante, without even consulting me, would spend a whole day f-f-f-flirting with that girl."

Louise's voice had started to shake when she reached the word "flirting." She was quite angry.

"I might even be the legendary 'Void' mage yet I can't even find anyone to talk it over with. I was even going to find that useless, incompetent fool Dante is but he was off somewhere f-f-f-flir…"

"F-f-f-flir-"the sword spoke mockingly.

"Don't copy me!"

"But, wasn't throwing a rock a bit too much? It was even charged with Void Magic. My partner could have even died."

Louise crossed her arms while sitting in the hole.

"He won't die with a hit like that; he's too hard to kill!"

The sword sighed, as if the blade has lungs to sigh to begin with…

"Jealousy."

"No. You're wrong."

As Louise turned her blushing face away, Derflinger imitated Louise's tone of speech.

"Why would he not spend time with me?"

"Be quiet."

"I was even being nice to him. I'll cry you know."

"If you say that again, I will melt you with my 'Void' magic. I swear, I will melt you."

Derflinger shook uncontrollably with laughter.

Eyeing it with great distaste, Louise asked Derflinger.

"Hey, I guess there's no one else to ask but you. A fine noble like me, is asking a rusty sword like you a question, be grateful."

"What?"

Louise gave a slight cough. With a blushing face, she asked Derflinger in a tone of voice that desperately tried to savour any dignity she had.

"State in which areas that maid is better than me, in a concise and easily understandable way."

"What use is it in asking?"

"That's none of your business. Just answer the question."

"Jealousy."

"I said that wasn't it didn't I?"

"Why Big Brother? why are you leaving me now… I'll cry you know."

"Right. Now for my next trick, to melt you rusty ass."

Louise firmly held her wand while muttering an incantation. Derflinger quickly answered in a panic. He couldn't possibly withstand an explosion of magical light.

"O-Ok I understand! There's no helping you is there? Well firstly, that girl can cook."

"I guess so. But so what? I can cook pizza for him."

"You do realize, man can't live on pizza alone. Guys like girls like that. She also seems to be good at sewing." Derflinger said

If they only knew, Dante has been living in almost nothing but pizza, sundaes and beer for most of his life, and some tomato juice during lean days.

"I can also do that. I was taught by my mother you know."

Truth be told, with her sewing, she had made countless monstrosities that a dressmaker would have nightmares on for months.

"You are like a baby lizard, and she is an ancient dragon if one were to compare you two in sewing."

"Next."

"Well, the face… I guess it's a matter of preference. You're quite good in this area but that girl also has her own charm. But that girl has a weapon you don't have."

"What would that be?"

"Breasts."

"People grow you know."

Louise says as she stuck out her chest.

A magnificently flat chest.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Oh. Grown up already. No hope left."

Louise started muttering an incantation.

"But then again, why is the little sister afraid of his big brother having a relationship?"

Derflinger said, as fury started to fill Louise's eyes.

"What? What did you say just now?"

Just to make it clear, Louise never had a family of sorts the likes of Dante, and lately, it seems like that she always felt like she always wanted to be close to her summoned being.

At the moment, Louise had been deeply inhaling and exhaling. She was shaking uncontrollably with anger.

Derflinger decided to keep quiet after being scared by her, something rare for a sword like him to feel.

Meanwhile the mole had popped its head up from the hole. It had seen the glad figure of its master who had been searching for it. Kneeling down, Guiche put his arms around his familiar and rubbed his cheek against its.

"Ah! I was looking for you Verdandi! You cute hairy thing! What on Halkeginia have you been doing, digging a hole here like this? Hm? Eh, Louise?"

Guiche looked perplexed as he peered in the hole to find Louise.

"Why are you in this hole?"

With a troubled expression, Verdandi looked at both Guiche and Louise. Guiche gave a slight nod and started to speak in a convinced manner.

"I understand Louise. You let Verdandi dig the hole, so that you could go looking for earthworms? In the mood for concocting beauty serums I see. And your familiar seems to be occupied with that maid from the dining hall as well…"

Guiche said, as he glanced over at the scene of Seista nursing Dante.

At the moment, our invincible Dante was unconscious. Seista clings to his chest and make a big fuss.

"Ahaha! You'll have to work hard on your beauty to win back Master Dante! Being taken by a peasant girl…your honour will surely be ruined!" the blond fop laughed, then falls silent as he noticed a dark aura emanating from the pinkette.

"Crap." Derflinger muttered.

Louise grabbed onto Guiche's ankles and pulled him into the hole. In a mere two seconds she finished him off. The mole worryingly prodded its nose against Guiche's unconscious face. Clenching her fists, she muttered in a low voice.

"Next up is him."

"Seems like this 'zero' is a hundred times more scary than the previous ones." Derflinger said to himself.

Rubbing his sore head, Dante returned back to Louise's room, to find Louise simply sitting cross-legged on the bed staring at the window.

The room was dim. It was already evening but Louise hadn't turned any lights on.

Dante sighed.

As he suspected…

"Is anything wrong Louise? Isn't the room a bit dark?" Dante asked anyway.

Louise didn't reply. She simply kept her back to Dante. She seemed to be in a bad mood. What could she be angry about? Dante wondered.

"Quite a late time to return isn't it? What have you been doing?" Louise asked without moving an inch. Her tone of voice was cold, but it didn't seem like she was angry. Dante gave a sigh of relief and replied.

"I met up with Siesta in the Vestri courtyard. She said she had something to give me. And then a rock from nowhere hit my head…."

"Really. Must have been divine punishment."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Somewhere else…

A young man battles fiercely in the battlefield of long ago.

A pile of dead bodies of man, animal and monster alike, all met their fate with the young man's blade.

Displaced, forgotten and alone, he continually fought not for his survival, but he looks for someone who could end it.

But no matter how many times he sought sweet silent oblivion, he still lived on.

He already lost the reason to live. So why was he still alive?

Cobalt woke up, and finds himself surrounded by dead bodies.

But these bodies belong to creatures not of this world.

Misshapen, and extremely elongated eyeless heads bearing mouths filled with countless fangs, wrongfully wrought lean bodies, long bone-thin arms that ended up in bony, long six fingered claws, and the lower body, that could only be described as an insect's that learned to walk like a man, but overall were much larger than any man. These inky black creatures are born only to be of service to their masters, always at the mercy of their whim. Yet they remain steadfastly loyal to their lords. These creatures are only having one desire, the wish to serve their betters, a twisted, rewardless service, and a mockery of loyal servitude among humans.

Their true names are not to be spoken by human tongues, so at this time let us call them, Servitors.

He looked around. It was a darkened room with an organic thing like carapace as floor and walls.

Cobalt looks at the pendant, which he hung around his neck.

Seeing that there is no one left alive in the room, he reached out in his cloak for a drink.

Normally, he never drank wine as his body aches whenever he drinks. But as of late he finds himself drinking way too much, and whenever he gets too drunk, bloodlust overcomes him.

Thus, he keeps a battalion of Servitors handy for this sole purpose.

His personal cannon fodder to vent his frustrations on,

At that moment, the door opened up and he saw a familiar face. Or rather, mask.

This one is a vermillion-cloaked, hooded and shapely figure that wears a porcelain mask of a beautiful doll…

"Oh, you've regained consciousness."

"Sangyne? You..."

The masked woman pushed a small cart with a plate of soup and a pitcher of water and glass. Cobalt takes a swig from his canteen and once more felt a jolt of pain throughout his body.

"Tch..."

"You should still feel the pain. Your body has been pushed to the limits when you used all your powers at once, breaking your body in numerous places. It took a lot of these Servitors' life force to induce a 'Recovery' spell strong enough to heal you, and after you wake up, you just up and went here to kill them. I have no idea whether you're insane or suicidal at times."

"Why do you care?"

Cobalt made a deadly glare with his eyes,

"I'm just concerned about you. Ever since you met this Dante and his master, you seem to more…emotional"

.

'Emotional huh?' Cobalt thought,

"Concern? Since when did this group have any concern to each other?" Cobalt said coldly to the masked woman.

"I just…" Sangyne began.

Cobalt just ignored the crimson hooded female, taking a swig from his wine canteen.

"I say you take a bed rest, NOW!" The masked woman orders after a few moments of silence.

"Guh!" Cobalt grunts,

She takes the surprised assassin by the hand, punches him in the gut, causing the weakened assassin the go limp as she creates a bloody mist around them…

After the mist disappeared, they were gone along with the cart of food, leaving the bodies of these unspeakable creatures deteriorate to red orbs then those too disappear into the air after a while.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

A few hours later,

At that moment, Cobalt went to the Reconquista headquarters in Albion, the door opened with a clank. In the receiving room was Cromwell, accompanied by blonde Sheffield.

Seeing Cobalt, he smiled thinly.

'That smile never changes. Just like a doll,' Cobalt thought beholding the smiling Cromwell.

They have just experienced defeat. An unthinkable stumble at the first step of Albion's ambition.

Yet the fact didn't seem to unnerve Cromwell. He was either a very strong man, a carefree optimist, or just a plain idiot. It was hard to tell.

"Looks like you regained consciousness, Master Cobalt."

Cobalt has earlier awakened in the Magical Recovery tank, mostly healed thanks to Sangyne's attention.

"I beseech your forgiveness, Your Excellency. I failed you not once, but twice."

"But it seemed your failure was immaterial."

Sheffield, who was standing by Cromwell's side, nodded, then read the parchment scroll that seemed to be the report, and muttered,

"A sphere of light appeared in the sky and blew off our fleet."

"In other words, the enemy used an unknown magic against us. This was a miscalculation and it's no one's fault. If there was anyone to blame… it was our leadership's fault for not properly analyzing the enemy's war potential. A mere assassin like you should not be blamed for that. You should just focus on recovering your health."

Cromwell offered his hand to Cobalt. Cobalt kissed it.

With much contempt.

"I thank your Excellency's kindness"

Cobalt remembered Louise's long, pinkish blond hair. Louise was in that flying machine.

Such magic never…

Cobalt for some reason, wanted to have it in his own hands.

For some reason, he seemed familiar with it,

…The element that Founder Brimierre used. The lost element, 'Void'.

He shook his head. Cromwell said that 'Void' is an element controlling life.

As he already knew, Cromwell's powers never came from the 'Void'

But power could and can it create such a light that would defeat an entire fleet?

Even if it is really powerful magic, it was hard to imagine the small pinkette having control over it.

"Was the 'Void' the source of that light? But the 'Void' that your Excellency talked about and that light seems to be completely different."

"No one can say that they have a full knowledge about what 'Void' is. 'Void' is a great mystery."

Sheffield stepped in.

"It is wrapped up on the other side of an ancient, dark history."

"History hides many interesting things. Once, I happened to come across a book that named one of the Founder's shields as Saint Aegis. It has a fairly small amount of information regarding 'Void'."

Cromwell spoke as if reciting a poem.

"Founder created the sun, to shine upon the ground."

"Indeed. There was no light within that small sun."

"Mystery upon the mystery, I feel ill. Awakening is also bad. Is it so, Master Cobalt?"

"It is as you say."

"It is said that Tristain's army was led by Henrietta. For what reason has an inexperienced princess fought? That princess made use of the 'Founder's Prayer Book'. Maybe she sniffed out the sleeping secret of Royal Family."

"What is the sleeping secret of the Royal Family?"

"The Royal Family of Albion, Royal Family of Tristain, and Royal Family of Gallia… were one branch in the beginning. And the Founder's secret was split between them. Isn't that so, Miss Sheffield?"

Cromwell urged the woman at his side.

"It is as Your Excellency says. The treasure that was given to Albion's royal family was the 'Ruby of the Wind'… However, where the Ruby of the Wind disappeared to is yet to be found. Since the investigation has not ended so far."

Cobalt watched the woman with a dubious feeling. Because her face was hidden by the deep robe, it was not possible to see her expression. Though one could think she was Cromwell's secretary… she didn't give an impression of being just a secretary. No strong magic was sensed from her. However, because she was promoted here by Cromwell, she might have some special ability.

"Now, Henrietta, a worshiped 'Holy Woman', enthroned to a queen." Cromwell muttered.

Sheffield said. "The ruler of the kingdom. The queen of the country will also get the Royal Families' secret."

Cromwell smiled.

"M'seiu Wales."

Wales, who was revived by Cromwell, entered the room from the corridor.

"You called, Your Excellency?"

"I want to offer congratulations for your lover's… the Holy Woman's coronation. I want her to come to my castle of Londinium. However, the journey seems to be very tedious so keep her company to dispel the boredom."

Wales muttered, "Certainly" in a monotone voice.

"Then, Master Cobalt. Take care of yourself." Then Cromwell said to the reanimated noble, "I will leave it up to you to invite the 'Holy Woman' to the dinner party and ensure her safe arrival."

Cobalt bowed.

Cromwell and others left from the room. The red hooded woman, Sangyne has been monitoring the conversation just as instructed by the Eye; muttered absent-mindedly.

"Disgusting man. Baiting one lover with their dead lover is not a way a noble should act."

The hooded woman added, though she herself hated nobles, actually humans in general as of late.

Except one.

"That man is not a noble. Haven't you heard? He was a mere bishop at first."

Then Cobalt grunted loudly as he tried to stand up.

His body is still recuperating from overexertion.

"What's wrong?"

"I just cannot stay calm. If only my body would be done healing… I could do my work instead of playing with corpses…"

After that, Cobalt regrettably buried his face in his hands.

"Damn! I… Am I powerless? Has my goal slipped away again…"

The hooded woman laughed with a smile, and placed her hand on Cobalt's shoulder.

"You are a weak man… Yet, I knew that from the beginning."

She said, removing her mask.

A beautiful lady's face appeared, similar to the porcelain mask, framed by wavy locks of blue.

And then, the hooded woman brought her unmasked face close to Cobalt's and placed her lips on his.

Slowly pulling her lips back, the hooded woman muttered.

"Rest for now. I do not know what you are hiding… Yet once in a while you need to rest as well."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Next up is the …

In Tristain's royal palace, Henrietta was waiting for her guest. Even though she was a queen, she never sat on the throne. She mostly did the king's work.

After the coronation was finished and she became queen, the number of things to do in the domestic and foreign areas greatly increased. Some were demanding loans, some were asking it in a good nature, and Henrietta, from morning till night, was always meeting someone. And, because of the war, there are more guests than usual.

Because she was always straining to show her dignity, she became very tired. Even though Mazarin assisted, she had to come up with the answers herself. It was too late for Henrietta to revert back to being a princess.

However… for the new guest, she neither showed nor made such expressions or attitude.

A refrained voice called outside the room, informing Henrietta about the guest's arrival.

Right after, that the door opened.

Louise stood there, reverentially bowing her head. Next to her, Dante's figure could be seen.

Dante looked rather bored, but is glad to wander off with Louise to the royal palace.

"Louise, aah, Louise!"

Henrietta ran up and embraced Louise closely. Looking up, Louise muttered.

"Your Highness … No, I have to call you Your Majesty now."

"I don't like it when you say it so formally. Louise Francoise. Aren't you my beloved friend?"

"Then, I will call you princess, as usual."

"Please do it for me. Aah Louise, I didn't want to be a queen. It is twice as boring. It is three times more straining. And ten times more worrisome."

Henrietta muttered, looking bored.

'I'd feel the same in her shoes,' Dante reflects, as he remailed stoically silent, observing the conversation between the two close friends.

After that, Louise became silent, waiting for Henrietta's words. This morning, the messenger from Henrietta came to the Academy of Magic. They boarded the carriage that Henrietta prepared and came here.

I guess I was called for a specific reason thought Louise. Is it about the 'Void' spell? However, she seems hesitant to talk about that.

Henrietta just looked into her eyes, not talking. Reluctantly, Louise said "I ought to give my congratulations on the victory". Louise tried to find a harmless topic to talk about with Henrietta.

"This victory was all thanks to you, Louise."

'We've been found?' Dante thought, rather surprised at the newly crowned queen's deduction.

This girl is good.

Louise watched Henrietta's face with a startled expression.

"You can't hide such a great secret from me, Louise."

"B-but I didn't do anything…"

Louise still tried to pretend not to know.

Henrietta smiled and handed a report, written on parchment, to Louise. After reading it, Louise sighed.

"You scouted even that?"

"Well, since it is the war results, it is better not to overlook anything."

After that, Henrietta faced Dante who was left out up till now. On the way there, he heard from Louise that Henrietta became a queen, so he felt happy for the young royal.

But then, he also realized that this is a rather stupid move done by the Nobles, but then since this is how they run things here, he knew he had no right to stick his nose to these affairs.

Unless it seriously involves his loved ones, he will not hold back,

But then again, his world's government has been handling things worse anyway…

….

"For controlling the foreign country flight machine that destroyed enemy's dragon knight corps, I express my greatest gratitude."

"No… it's not like that."

"You are the hero of this country. So now I am giving you a noble's title… "

"That's so wrong! Turning him into a noble!"

"Why?"

"N-no… it doesn't matter" Louise murmured with a blush.

"Then, I will grant you a peer's title."

When Henrietta said this,

Dante muttered, 'Huh?'.

Then he remembered Kirche's words a while ago. That in Tristain, if you are not a mage from birth then you cannot become a noble.

But, despite his thoughts about the peerage, he didn't open his mouth. Either way, when returning to his world, all the titles would lose their meaning.

Not Like he cared for it anyway,

"Great… a really great war outcome. Louise Francoise. The way the war ended is all thanks to you and M'seiu Dante. There has never been such a victory in the whole of Halkeginia's history. By all means, Louise, you should be given a territory the size of a small country and a title of duchess for this. And your familiar awarded with a peer's title."

"I d-don't need anything... this deed was Dante's..."

Louise muttered hesitatingly.

"Weren't you the cause of that light, Louise? That light was called a miracle of the castle, yet I do not believe in miracles. The light came from the flying machine that you were flying in. Aren't you the cause of it?"

Henrietta intently watched Louise. It was impossible to hide anything this way.

And what about Dante?

Even though he constantly tapped his right foot impatiently, trying to cut in with,

"By the way…", she slowly began talking about the Founder's Prayer Book. She could not consult about it with anyone else. It was too risky to do so.

Slowly… Louise talked to Henrietta.

She took Henrietta's 'Water Ruby', placed it on the pages of Founder's Prayer Book and an ancient script appeared. When she read it out back then, she cast a spell of the light.

"The Founder's Prayer Book was written using the element of 'Void'. Is this true, Princess?"

Henrietta stared over Louise's shoulder.

"You knew, Louise? Founder Brimir gave rings to three children from three royal families to keep as a treasure. Tristain got the 'Water Ruby' and Founder's Prayer Book, which are now both in your possession."

"Err…"

"It has been handed down like this among the royal families. Royal families were the ones that inherited the Founder's power."

"I am not from a royal Family."

"What are you saying, Louise? The ancestor of Duke de La Vallière was the king's illegitimate child. And you are the Duke's child."

Louise was startled.

"You, too, have the Tristainian Royal Family's blood. And that is good enough."

After that, Henrietta took Dante's hand. Seeing the runes, she nodded.

"Is this the sign of 'Windálfr'? The sign of the Familiar that Founder Brimir used for attacking while casting spells?"

Dante nodded. Old Osmond also said the same thing.

Louise sighed.

"That's why you understand that I cannot reward you that way, right, Louise?"

Dante, who understood the situation, but for the sake of continuing the conversation, asked,

"Why?"

Henrietta answered with a clouded face.

"If I were to give the reward, Louise's secret services would be exposed in the daylight. That would be dangerous. Louise's power is too big. Even one country could not manage such power. If an enemy learned about Louise's secret, they would become frantic about it and would do anything to get it. I alone should be the enemy's target."

'Looks like this girl has great leadership potential' Dante thought,

Even more so than some certain government officials he knew of.

After that, Henrietta sighed.

"Enemies are not the only ones interested in 'Void'. Even inside the palace… those who know about that power, will always try to use it for their own purposes."

Louise nodded with a scared look.

"Therefore, Louise, you should not talk to anyone about that power. Your secret is safe with me."

Then Louise thought for a while…

And, in a slowly determined way, she opened her mouth.

"Don't worry princess. I want to dedicate my power to you."

"No… it is all right. You must forget that power as soon as possible. And never use it again."

"But… Princess I want to help you with the powers I was granted!"

However, Henrietta shook her head.

"Mother said, great power drives people mad. Who could be sure that you, after gaining the power of 'Void', would not turn out the same way?"

Louise proudly lifted her face. It was the face of a person who had decided her mission. However, such a face was somewhat dangerous.

"I always wanted to dedicate my power and body to princess-sama and the mother country. I was taught so, I believed so, and I grew up with that. However, my magic always failed. As you know, I was nicknamed 'Zero'. Behind sneers and contempt, I was always shaken with regret."

Louise clearly asserted.

"However, God gave such power to me. I, myself, believe in using this power. Still, if you say that Your Majesty will not need it, then it is necessary to return my wand to Your Majesty."

Henrietta was touched by Louise's speech.

"Louise, I understand. You are still… my best friend. From the times when you helped me on Ragdorian's lake. You took the blame for me…"

"My Princess..."

Louise and Henrietta tightly embraced each other. Dante, who was left out, sighed at the dramatics.

'Louise as always is too eager to promise without thinking…' he thought, though he didn't say that out loud.

'Though it was nice to help Henrietta… but she has no idea what trouble awaits her should she really be needed…'

By helping Henrietta, it seemed like they will find out.

"After this, I will help Louise too."

"Naturally, my princess."

"Then I give the 'Founder's Prayer Book' to you. However Louise, promise me. Don't tell anyone that you are a 'Void' user. And do not use it recklessly, either."

"Certainly."

"After this, you will become my court lady and will obey only me."

Henrietta then took out a quill pen and smooth parchment. After that, she signed the document and put down the quill pen.

"Take this. This is my formal permission. With this, whether in the royal palace, or inside or outside the country, you will have supreme authority over everything, even over the police. If there is no freedom, one cannot work well."

Louise reverently received the permission with an expression of gratitude. Henrietta's authorization. This meant that Louise was granted with the right to act in the queen's name.

"If I will face a problem that only you can solve, I will surely consult you. Officially, please act as a student of Academy of Magic like you have up to now. Since it is you, you will, without a doubt, do well."

After that, Henrietta turned towards Dante. Having an idea, she fumbled within the pocket of her dress. When she took out some golden coins, Dante sighed audibly.

"I ask you to look after Louise…my important friend, kind guardian."

"That's… I cannot take it."

Dante tries to refuse, but with the way the new Queen looked at him…

Dante tried to look amazed at the golden and silver coins in her hand, so as not to hurt her feelings.

But then, he has to tell them that he is actually loaded already, there's no need for rewards…

"By all means, please accept it. Giving you this as a sign of "Chevalier" is the least what this powerless queen can do. You showed your loyalty to me and to the mother country. This should not be unrewarded."

Henrietta said with sincere eyes.

'Crap.' Dante thought,

When seeing such eyes… it becomes impossible to refuse. After accepting this, he could not refuse to help Louise, as it seems…

Because Dante was not from this world, he wasn't Henrietta's vassal either, but even if he didn't have to feel responsible,

Dante felt a strong sense of obligation either way.

'Aah, it might be fate,' he thought.

No, it was his personality rather than fate. When such a beautiful woman like Henrietta said 'please', he could not find it in his heart to refuse.

'What a light-hearted fellow I am. '

'Anyway, I should try to resolve this world's situation before things go worse, 'Dante thought, putting the golden coins into his pocket.

Dante and Louise went out of the royal palace in line.

"Really… you are too eager to give promises…"

"What do you mean?"

Louise stared up at Dante.

"Because you said that you will help the princess, but then it will be nearly impossible to further investigate in the east." Dante deadpans.

"Don't leave without permission. Everyone remains here, so stop asking."

Louise averted her face and started walking leaving Dante behind. Dante sighed and walked faster to catch up with the pinkette.

When Henrietta asked for his help a while ago, though he thought it was bothersome, he was also glad for a moment. No one really needed him in his world at the moment since he wiped out the demons at the source.

The earth kept on spinning, even with Dante gone. However, it was different in this world. Siesta and Henrietta… there were some people that needed him.

Yet he wanted to feel needed by Louise more. However, judging from her words earlier, all that she cared about were his 'Windálfr' powers.

He hated being treated as a thing…

Dante frowned. He was feeling sulky.

Determined, he started to push his way through crowd. The town was still crowded from the victory celebration. A drunken group was yelling out toasts while hanging out their cups filled with wine.

Louise, still in deep thought, was still for a while. With face down, she bit her lower lip. When she looked up after a while, Dante was already gone in the crowd and could not be seen. Louise ran out panicking.

"Mooove!"

Louise bumped hard into a man. A man, who looked like a mercenary, collapsed. In his hand he had a bottle of sake, which he was gulping down vigorously. He seemed to be completely drunk.

Though Louise tried to pass that man sideways, he grasped her hand.

"Wait, Miss. You ought to apologize for bumping into a person in the middle of the street."

Then another man, who seemed to be a mercenary, noticed Louise's mantle and muttered "A noble, huh?"

However, the man who was clasping Louise's arm didn't move.

"Today is the festival celebrating the victory at Tarbes. Put aside the rank. Today nobles, mercenaries and salesmen are equal. Hey, Miss Noble, how about sharing one drink with me as an apology for bumping into me?"

Saying so, the man thrust out his jar of wine.

"Let me go! You brute!"

Louise shouted. The man's face became brutally distorted at once.

"What did you call me. Hey! Who do you think attacked Albion's army in Tarbes! 'Holy Woman' or nobles like you, no, us – soldiers!"

The man reached out to grasp Louise's hair. However, his hand was stopped.

Dante, who showed up right before their eyes, firmly gripped the man's hand. Should he have gripped it even harder, it would cause him to break some bones in an instant.

"What? Go find yourself another wench, man!"

"I said, Let go of her."

Dante said in a quiet voice. If it were the old days… this guy would have become an instant Holy Man, filled with bullet holes. However, now this was Dante who went through many battles and Hell itself.

Thus he gained great restraint, and exercised it when needed. No need for further violence.

The man looked at the Rebellion and Derflinger on Dante's back, with a similar look. The experience that he gained through battlefields in many years, told him that Dante's attitude wasn't just a bluff. Then a man spitted nonchalantly and, urging his companions, left.

Dante silently took Louise's hand, and began to walk.

Louise tried to say something to Dante. However, being all flustered, she could not find the words. Dante walked rapidly, pushing through the crowd.

"Are you angry?" Louise asked in a small voice.

"Not really," Dante answered snappishly.

The clasp of his hand made Louise flurried for a moment. Does Dante feel the same? However, because Dante walked straight ahead, she couldn't see his facial expression.

Louise followed while being dragged.

It was chilly just as much as a pleasant feeling that Louise could not understand or explain.

Louise, while walking and holding hands with Dante, cheered up. The town was filled with colorful festivals, joyful shows, food carts and stalls where unusual goods were sold were stretched all the way down the street.

Being a local lord's daughter, Louise never walked in such a lively town this way. More so, she never walked in a town holding hands with someone of the opposite sex. Those two things combined, made Louise's head light and dizzy.

"So very noisy," Dante said.

"True," Louise muttered happily.

"Feels like my world's festivals."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The showy street stalls line up just like this… "

While saying so, Dante's eyes turned distant. Louise tightened her grasp on Dante's hand. Somehow, the thought about Dante suddenly leaving to some place made her feel bad.

Sometime… the day when Dante leaves, will surely come.

However, when walking together this way, the one that I want you to see is me, Louise thought. Just for now. And nothing else matters.

And at the same time she was angry at herself for thinking that way.

Because of love? That's not it. It was her pride that was the problem.

After convincing herself of that, Louise looked around blankly

.

And then, shouting "Waa", stopped still.

"What is it?"

Dante turned around. Louise was looking at a jewelry shop. There, on a cloth, various rings and necklaces were displayed.

"Do you want to take a look?" Dante asked, and Louise, with a blush on her cheeks, nodded.

Seeing two people approaching, a merchant with a turban on the head rubbed his hands together.

"My! Please come in! I see you are a noble miss. We have rare goods to offer. This is made from "Wrought gold" and it is not a sham."

'Yeah, right.' Dante thought, as he scanned the said wares, and found that most actually are.

The presented jewels were suited for nobles to wear; beautifully ornamented to satisfy the most various tastes.

Louise took a pendant. It was a pure-white pendant, carved in a shape of a shell. There were a lot of big jewels placed around. However, upon closer look, the jewels were nothing but cheap crystals.

But then again, it looked nice.

Still, Louise liked this shiny pendant. Within the atmosphere of noisy festival, filled with quality goods, such a showy one attracts attention.

"Do you want it?"

Louise shook her head embarrassed.

"Don't have the money."

"Well then, I will cheapen it. It will be only four écus."

The merchant sweetly smiled.

"Too expensive!"

Louise shouted.

"You don't have that much?"

Dante asked amazed, Louise puffed her lips nonchalantly.

"I would if I hadn't bought that impertinent sword the other day. I spent all my month's pocket money on that."

She is in a word, broke.

Dante shook his head as he fumbled in his pocket. He tightly gripped the golden coins that he got from Henrietta a little while ago. Holding the golden coins that were approximately of the size of a dime on his palm, Dante asked.

"How much is this worth?"

The merchant was surprised that it was Dante who was carrying money.

"T-this is! Hii, fuu, hmm…This is splendid."

Taking up four gold coins on which an old king's portrait was carved, the merchant passed the pendant to Louise.

Louise was taken aback with surprise, her cheeks unintentionally loosened up a bit.

'The first thing that Dante did with the money given by Henrietta was shopping for me.'

She was very happy. After it was in her hand for a while, she cheerfully put it on her neck. "It suits you well", said the merchant gracefully.

Dante nods in agreement.

Louise beams a happy smile to the devil hunter.

It reminded Dante of Patty when he bought, or had him billed that sundress.

Though he might have better necklaces in his infinite treasury, to be honest, but those might not be too rich for the girl.

Or too dangerous,

Dante haven't had the time to sort them out, as there might be cursed items stowed over there.

Dante reminded himself to give this girl some allowance when possible.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Later….

Then Louise went back to bed, hugging the taken off longcoat tightly.

With all her clothes taken off, Louise, wearing only Dante's longcoat, pouted as she goes to her bed.

For some reason she is a bit restless.

Louise frowned, while lying down on her stomach and swinging her feet.

Dante dozed on the couch.

Louise, lying down on the bed, began to read the Founder's Prayer Book.

Dante cracks open an eye and saw the mini-mage reading the book,

"Isn't it all blank?" he comments,

"I can read it."

Louise showed "The Ruby of Water" on her finger to Dante and explained its relation to the Founder's Prayer Book.

"Hee, Element of Void…"

Dante remembered the magical light, which blew off the fleet that day.

'Void'. The legendary element that Founder Brimir used…

And, I am a Familiar that Founder Brimir is said to have used - 'Windálfr'.

The legendary Familiar that has the ability to master all kinds of magical creatures, in order to fight for the Founder, while he casts his spells…

'I still haven't had a chance to use it' the devil hunter thought,

"Then you are the strongest wizard in this world? Cool! Destroying with one swing."

"I wouldn't say so. I haven't said this to princess since I didn't want to disappoint her…"

With a sigh Louise took the wand.

"Wait, what the hell are you doing?"

After that, Louise slowly began uttering an incantation.

"Eor Sun Fuir…"

"Stop! You Idiot!"

It would be terrible if such explosion were to happen in a place like this. However, Louise didn't stop chanting.

"Yarunsakusa.."

Finishing the chant uninterrupted. Louise lifted the wand. Dante steeled himself for impact with the Royalguard.

The expected explosion never came.

And then Louise's eyes rolled back and she crumbled to the bed suddenly.

"Louise? Louise!"

Dante shook Louise in panic. After being shaken for a while, Louise opened her eyes.

"Auuu…"

"Wh-what? What's wrong?"

Shaking her head Louise got up abruptly.

"Stop making such a fuss. I only fainted for a moment."

"That is not normal fainting!"

"Been chanting 'Explosion' till the last minute, but nothing… After that time, no matter how much I chant, I faint in the middle of it. The explosion only happened once."

"What kind of thing?"

"I think the reason may be that the willpower is insufficient."

"Willpower, huh?"

"Right. Willpower is consumed when the magic is chanted. Didn't you know?"

"I have a faint idea." Dante smiled, having read most of the magic class books to find out Louise's affinity, but acted a bit naïve just to humor the slightly depressed pinkette.

It worked.

Then, Louise sat up straight demurely, lifted a finger and started explaining, proud as a peacock.

"Listen, the number of elements that a mage uses can be increased, and his class changes accordingly. A mage who can use only one element is a dot. Ability to have two – makes one a line. Being able to use three - triangle. Spells are also applied to the class. The spells from three elements are called 'Triangle spells'. Each time the spell class rises, the consumption of willpower doubles."

"Is that so?" Dante said, remaining rather complacent as he listened to the mini-mage lecture him of what he already knew.

"For instance, the line spell would cost the mage eight willpower, but when that mage decides to use the dot spell, only four of his willpower will be consumed. The cost depends on each person individually, however the same rule applies to all. "

"Hmm." Dante nods,

"The main point is, that mage could cast two 'Dot' spells instead. Eight divided by four is two. Therefore, you could cast the spell twice. But when you cast a line spell only once, because twice of the willpower consumed, and eight divided by eight is one."

"MmHmm." He nods again,

"When the line mage grows up to a triangular mage, consumption of the willpower spent on dot spells decreases by half. Therefore, four divided by two - two, he can use the dot spell four times. The line spell can be used twice. Triangular spell – one time. That's because the mage grows up."

"So, in other words, the low class spells can be chanted many times, while the high class spells can be chanted only so many times."

"Right. So now you understand the relation between spells and willpower?"

"Yup. Then, you fainting a little while ago…"

"Yeah. I fainted a while ago because I overworked and used up my willpower. The spell was too strong and my willpower was insufficient."

"Then, why were you able to cast it the other day?"

"Well… Really why… I wonder myself…"

"How does willpower recover?"

"Basically, it recovers while sleeping."

"Just as I thought." Dante reflected while folding his arms together.

"Ummm… Well, up till now, you haven't used many spells correctly?"

"Well, yes."

"Therefore you collected a lot of willpower, right? And that time you used it all up at once."

Louise made a startled face.

"For instance, let's assume that your willpower is 100. The 'Explosion', consumed all 100 at once. While usually the willpower is recovered while sleeping at night, the amount needed is too large for you… Since it is as much as 100, you cannot store that much just with one night of sleep."

Dante plainly stated his hypothesis.

"What? To me it seems that it might be the end of your magic."

However, Louise's face was serious.

"It might be so.."

Silence…

Louise then cleared her throat before continuing,

"Applying the Earth magic Square Class spell 'Wrought Gold', gold can be created. But do you know why the world still uses money?"

"Well, it is better than barter trade that's for sure."

"It is said the square mages simply cannot chant the square spells many times. It's too unreliable, one time the recovery might take one week, the other – one month. Besides, the amount of gold you could convert this way is too little. Therefore money is used instead of gold."

"Hmmm…"

"In other words, powerful spells use up more willpower and take more time to recover. For me, it might be so as well."

"Then…when would you be able to chant again..."

"Don't know. I… One month or maybe one year…"

Louise pondered.

"Ten years."

"Don't say such scary thing."

"But, it was successful."

"Oh well. No one can understand 'Void' fully. Anyways, the incantation's power was demonstrated. There are no other spells like this one."

"Well, lecture time is over so time to hit the sack…" Dante said while looking at the tired mini-mage.

"Sack? Uhh, what do you mean? What does striking a sack help people to sleep?"

"It's a figure of speech, princess. Now go to sleep"

Louise muttered, blushing for some reason.

"Haa", Dante sighed once he noticed something. What the… He became rather distressed and annoyed from the view that Louise gave him, not aware of it herself. The longcoat's hem had rolled up to Louise's buttocks.

'I'm not a lolicon, Dammit!' Dante shouts inwardly,

Dante instinctively looked away. Due to Dante's gesture, Louise finally became aware that the longcoat rolled up. Instantly she sprang to her feet and held down the Longcoat's hem closed while blushing.

"Na! You saw! You saw, you saw! You saaaaaw!"

"It's your fault for not wearing panties." Dante shrugged.

"I cannot sleep with them! It was always that way!"

"Always, huh?"

Then Louise bit her lower lip and, with some rustling, slipped under the matress.

"Never mind. Go to Sleep."

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Meanwhile, in the outskirts of city of Tristain, a man trembles as he beheld a terrible visage that caused him to be petrified with fear…Literally.

The villager slowly turned to stone, as he tried for one final time to scream.

A single, glowing violet eye hovered in the darkness, savouring the victims final moments of despair.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Author's notes:

I just thought of putting things together as I am currently distressed at the trend in this site has been deleting stories which had swear words…and lemons.

Feeling rather put out, I only managed to write this chap in its raw form.

And posting it…

So I feel rather not sure if I can write the next chapters without some strange scenes necessary to the plot that I have…

For the record, the first scene in Chap 17 is necessary, as the results of that event will be shown sometime later. So quit whining about it coming out of nowhere, we're talking about ruthless demons here.

*Grins and flashes peace sign*

Hence, I wrote this chapter borefest and to ask for the opinions of you guys…

This is an introduction for a bunch of future foes and other characters alike.

I might be posting a bit slower by this time as the workload from the office might increase, and lessen my time brainstorming and writing.

But the story will continue, whether I like it or love it.

To new readers, please review, or PM.


	20. Mission 20: Silliness, Tragedy and GAR

Author's rant :

I"M BACK!

First of all, I would like to say thanks for the reviews being given and the PM s sent to me, I really, really appreciate them.

As this is my first baby to materialize and published in the web, I'm quite happy with the results…

To tell you the truth, the ZNT world I ended up making seems a little larger than I expected...

Looks Like this series will be continuing a bit longer... XD

To answer some questions to some of the reviewers here's some of it,

SweetKagamineKiss: He's there... either you missed him and haven't realized it yet.

RPG247: Siesta's personality might be said to be linked to a certain clue, please read mission 17, for details.

On Dante and Louise's weird relationship, might be linked to the fact that both have been living mostly alone all their lives and the fact that Dante's life mostly revolved around hunting and killing demons and not usually having to take up daycare as a sideline, and also the fact that he just came from hell for heaven's sake. God knows how long he stayed there since, you know, he managed to clean up hell of all the demons.

Louise, due to her notoriety as a failure, ended up growing friendless due to her complex regarding her inability to cast spells properly...

On Saito references...read carefully and you might get it : )

Might as well tell you that it has been a blast telling this tale to you guys and an honor to have been reviewed on both positively and otherwise.

I learned a lot.

Hopefully I get to apply it in later fics if I'm allowed to do so...

This chapter has a part that is kind of an experiment for me so…pardon me for the randomness. And the way I tell this tale.

Oh yeah, just a warning: Children, please prepare for a slight shock, and please read this from beginning to end, and not just the end part.

Hence, let's begin:

Mission 20 : Silliness, Tragedy & GAR

／人◕ .◕人＼

Fantasy pic: Guiche stands on a cliff holding Rebellion across his shoulders, trying to look manly, in a pose similar to Dante's DMC 3 Poster, with the twin moons rising behind him, and wears a longcoat similar to Dante's DMC 3 coat.

The thing is, instead of Bloody Red, the coat's color is Flaming Pink…

／人◕ .◕人＼

As the Victory Celebration on the Tristainian victory over the Reconquista invasion winds down, life remained pretty much the same at the academy.

A place where things normal people call 'weird' happen.

Then again, this is a world where magic is commonplace.

That's not a bad thing at all.

Most of the time.

／人◕ .◕人＼

"Everyone's here, right? Then let's start the classes going-"

Being the newly hired potion making teacher, M'selle Michelle d' Ermegarde (who introduced herself before) stood in front of the blackboard as she earnestly smiled at everyone.

Dante, who took the time to stick to class as to see the said new teacher, looked rather confused.

She has a petite figure, and doesn't look any different from a student. However, wearing clothes that don't match her body made her look even more petite. And it was even more out of place with those large olive green eyes behind those hazy glasses.

How should I say it?

Instead of saying that it was a disproportionate sense of 'a kid wearing adult clothes'...it was more like a kid being forced into adult clothes.

But that body sure look like a ripe adult's.

Dante is sure that he wasn't the only one thinking this way.

That curves...

"Then everyone, let's get along with each other for the rest of the year~"

"..."

However, the classroom was filled with an intense atmosphere, and nobody could react.

"Now, let's move on to self-introductions. Mm, we'll go by seating arrangements."

Even though Dante thought that the new teacher was a little cute when she panicked, that didn't stir the rest of the students with a 'at least I've got to do something' kind of mood, because unfortunately, most of them had no time for that.

Most especially the boys.

If you want to know why,

There are new transfer students in the class as well.

Two of them in fact.

There's Emily S. Crewe, a clumsy young lady with wavy golden locks, at the same age as Louise and Co. Stunningly sexy that could even rival Queen Henrietta, in spite of her wearing a modestly made uniform, courtesy of a certain Taylor Swift, it sure shows off her perfectly proportioned curves.

The thing is, she has the personality of a painfully shy bookworm, currently reading a certain book entitled "A Little Princess"…

And the second is a real rival to Kirche in the abilty to seduce boys, is named Lavinia la Herberte, a mysterious transfer student. She wears her long, vibrant violet hair down, vivid violet eyes, an angelic face and an extremely curvy body to die for. Her uniform is made similar to Kirche's design, with the only difference is that the hems and the cuffs are more intricately laced. The most shocking part is her skirt, in which the front part is made of a cloth slightly thin enough to look transparent, enabling a nice view of, ehem... her asset. All in all, just the sight of her makes normal guys automatically want to rip her clothes off and do her right there.

Many boys are beginning to fight over her, as she laughs lightly at the expense of the young Nobles.

Though her laugh is soft like that of a refined noblewoman...

As for Kirche, currently occupied with seducing Dante to the Ardent side, so she has no problems regarding said affair.

"Darling, it's getting rather too noisy in here, can we go somewhere where WE-CAN-BURN-OUR-PASSION?" Kirche whispered to the devil hunter as she had her arms around his neck, while perched on his lap.

As much as Dante wanted to have some 'fun', there's something bugging him about the turn of events, such as the lull of Albion regarding their failed invasion attempt. This left him in a meditative state. But not before doing something for the heating up Germanian.

In a flash, we see Kirche, back to her seat, basking in an afterglow of a certain activity wherein intimate connection between opposite genders occurs.

"D-Darling, you are simply the best there is…" she moaned, as she took a nap to recover her lost energy.

The perks of quicksilver style…

Louise tries to ignore the small scene while concentrating on her lessons.

Unfortunately, the argument among the young men regarding who should be sitting next to M'selle Lavinia, turns to into a full on fistfight.

Dante sighed, as he watched the chaos grow worse and worse, as the flustered M'selle Ermengarde tries to put the class in order but was unable to do anything.

"Please stop that…" the new teacher whimpered, as tears began welling on her eyes.

Louise's eyebrows twitched in irritation, as Dante took this as the cue to raise his hand up wordlessly to do something.

The said beauty then rose from her seat, leaving the crowding young men and some girls, and gracefully walks towards the most unlikely place...the sulking Guiche.

"It's been a long time...Gui...My Love." She spoke in the most seductive voice, the likes that could only be compared to a certain busty, red haired Germanian.

The confused Guiche looks at the girl in question, and then a look of realization crossed his face.

"It can't be...Could it be YOU?" he exclaimed in surprise,

The then proceeds to give the surprised Don Juan-nabe a hug, putting his face in between her voluminous chest.

"Wha-"was the last word he said before fainting from lack of air...

'Well, that's one way to go...' Dante thought as he observed the event.

The rest of the class, were shocked at the development, knowing that the said boy would have been joyous if a woman would give "that" kind of attention to him.

Most of the young men will probably attempt to call the playboy fop out.

But then, upon seeing the deadly aura that is for some reason became visible from Montmorency, they decided that she would probably deal Guiche with something worse than they could even think about.

The potion teacher sighed in relief as the chaos in the classroom came into an unexpected and abrupt end.

'Interesting.' Dante thought as he noticed something from the entire fiasco.

／人◕ .◕人＼

At the Alviss dining hall...

"I see. So that girl over there is supposed to be your fiancé?" Dante said as he along with Louise, who looked rather shocked at the way Lavinia treating Guiche like some adored pet, stroking him on the head and forcing his head to rest on her lap.

"Err, How can I explain this.." Guiche tries to speak,

Then a cloud of killing intent appeared behind them.

"Yes, please do explain yourself." Montmorency spoke in an ominous tone in her voice...

"I thought you guys broke off." Louise asked the blonde water mage, regarding their relationship status.

That caught Montmorency off guard, as she now began to look elsewhere as she tries to find something else to say,

Dante knows the fact that Guiche maybe a womanizer, but he still adores Montmorency.

But then again, the situation became an entirely different ballgame when an old flame showed up.

"Just leave it at that Louise," Dante interjects, "Let's hear what **she** has to say." indicating the passionately blushing and panting violet head kissing all over the now love-showered lad.

Palpable silence covers the group, as they looked at the rather unbelievable scene...

"How scandalous!" the blushing Louise blushes as she covers her eyes with her hands in embarrassment, but peeks a bit between her fingers.

Montmorency just stomps off leaving the rest at the table, making an impression of Godzilla leaving the premises with booming footsteps.

"Oookay...Nuff said." Dante sums it up.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Let us try to tell this short tale in a few words,

A long time ago, the Gramont and Herberte families got together and agreed to have their children married to strengthen their alliance...

Thus, we get Guiche + Lavinia as the promised pairing,

The six-year-old Guiche was then happy to be of some use for their family, being instilled to them the values of being a Noble early on.

Though he doesn't know much what 'marriage' is, at least he still has a something to look forward to.

Lavinia, during that time is a rather plain-looking girl in general, but has one of the most beautiful violet eyes he had ever seen. She loved to wear simple clothes during that time. That and her air of usual air of innocent shyness is also part of her charm.

They are what you call childhood friends.

Both of them tend look forward to their next meeting. Whenever any of the family visits the other, Guiche and Lavinia would go off somewhere to play together.

In the times that they were apart, they would send each other letters to keep track of the other's current activities.

This trend continued for two to three years...until...

News reached to the Gramont family that in one group of hostile Gallia brigands attacked the Herberte family estate, in which the castle was looted and burned down, with most of their retainers slain, in the confusion of it all the entire Herberte family disappears from the records.

It is said that the entire main Herberte family line has been wiped out.

Until now.

Lavinia suddenly appears, wishing to reclaim her estate from royal custody. With the only explanation that she was the sole survivor of that massacre, taken under the wing of a Gallian Noble in which she did not disclose who.

That and the large sum of money that was donated to the school, this Noble is quite loaded.

Basing from her academic records, she studied in an exclusive school for girls in Gallia before she transferred here. And judging from what was written there, she has a rather good academic standing.

Not only that, she also bears the title of 'chevalier' and has worked alongside Tabitha on some missions, therefore her proficiency at magic is at par with the bluenette.

Though the chevalier missions mentioned are a bit too sensitive for normal eyes.

This is what Dante had uncovered as he browsed through the records, referring to the said transfer student.

'There's something here that looks rather out of place, but what?'

／人◕ .◕人＼

Anyways, on to the next scene...

The following day, we find Guiche sleeping soundly in his room...

Slowly opening his eyes as the sun's rays began to peek out from the horizon.

Even in waking up, he tries his best to look dashing as he even took the time to yawn cutely...

The thing is...this time, there's someone actually watching him wake up.

"My, my. I see you've learned a lot of things when I was gone..." a familiar voice whispered close to his ears.

Way too close.

"..." Guiche was a bit too groggy to realize at first, thinking that he might be dreaming...

Then came a tickling feeling of someone lightly nipping at his right earlobe, along with the light sighs of pleasure from the one doing the nibbling...as it actually stimulated something on his person...

As much as he regretted losing the feeling, Guiche turns to face his whoever it was who is doing it...

And sees Lavinia in a nearly transparent, lacy violet negligee, which accentuates her curves...

"Good mornin', Gui." She greets the boy and at the same time drawing herself to him to give him a passionately deep, deep kiss...which includes tongue playing...

Whatever happens next is up to your imagination... XD

／人◕ .◕人＼

In the days that followed, Guiche was always accompanied by the M'selle Lavinia in almost every activity, trying to catch up with the times.

Whenever they had the time, they always wandered around the Academy, talking mostly about anything under the sun.

Upon knowing mostly of how she managed to get by to this day, Guiche tries his best to make his childhood friend as welcome as possible.

Though in his heart he is quite surprised to see the great change that she went through, she's a lot more outgoing than he had ever known her before...

To the extent that she always stole kisses from him whenever she has a chance to do so.

Back in the day, she would always lecture him on how to become the best gentleman he could be, since Lavinia always dreamt of marrying to the perfect lover, which is everything Guiche was not.

Resulting to...

*Flashback...

"Hey, Gui, check this out, "

"Lavinia, what is it now?"

"Let's read this together. It's called 'The Queen's toy knight.'"

"EEEhhh, aren't we too young for those ero-"

"Quiet, you fool. I'm just doing this for your education, you know." Lavinia clamps the boy's mouth shut, and pulls the hapless boy away...into a secret room...

Shy girl. my ass.

One should know that even in this era and world, there were novels that explicitly depict erotic stuff...

(The contents of that novel... maybe I'll post it someday...)

*Flashback ends...

But then again, the boy also changed a lot especially after he thought he lost Lavinia, his then only friend. For in the days that followed after confirming the news, he tried to disguise his grief by becoming or trying his best to become the best lover that Lavinia wished for, but he ended up a stupidly suave skirt-chaser that he is currently known for.

The thing is, said bravado kind of stuck to his person until this day.

Yet the inner pain still it remained, until he found Montmorency...

Though he never got rid of his womanizing ways...

But now that his past lover returns, it reignited something within him.

Though he is not sure of what could it be...

For the first time in his life, he's not acting like a jerk.

He just sat there quietly as his onetime fiancé talked to him a lot of things...

"Hey Guiche, Do you still remember our promise?"

Guiche looked up from reading his notes from his class, to smile at the girl and answer,

"To be together forever with you, why'd you...mmm.."

The blonde boy's reply was cut off with a passionate kiss from Lavinia.

After a while, she removed herself from the lip lock and beamed at blushing Guiche, and said,

"I'm so glad that you remembered."

"Well, yes. Why would I forget such a promise?" Guiche asked

An ecstatic Lavinia once more claimed his lips.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Not far from where grove that the new couple is occupying, three figures watched the scene unfold from the shade of a nearby tree in the person of Montmorency, Louise and would you believe Dante.

Montmorency bit at her handkerchief, as she saw Lavinia kiss Guiche for the umpteenth time, she whispered in an annoyed voice,

"There she goes again! What a scandalous hussy!"

"Care to answer why were dragged into this?" Dante deadpans, as he leans on the tree trunk and stole a glance at the two 'lovebirds'.

"I just need to know who she is and what exactly she wants with de Gramont," Montmorency replies,

"Weren't you guys broke up already?" Louise sleepily comments,

"Well, it's just...I find this situation rather suspicious...I mean how did she manage to make Guiche act like a..."

"Gentleman, right?" Dante finished the sentence for her, "After all, he was his fiancée and as I looked up into it, his first love as well..."

"First LOVE?" Louise reacts,

Well, she isn't quite exposed to that kind of love being discussed at the moment so she is puzzled.

The only time she felt something close to that particular feeling is in her dreams... describing the feelings she had towards a certain Sai...something.

Those feelings are felt only in her dreams, so she is not quite sure if that is the same as the 'Love' that Dante might be referring to.

As prudence tells her, Monmorency had no choice but to just look on with annoyance.

Dante however had a different expression, and shook his head sadly...

"I know I'm going to be hated if I tell him that one small detail about his fiancée though..."

／人◕ .◕人＼

One night, Katie(Guiche's one time girlfriend should anyone), has just returned from town after shopping for some sewing materials when suddenly as cloaked shadow accosts her,

A shrill cry for help was the last thing ever heard from her...

／人◕ .◕人＼

Morning...

Dante returns from his morning rounds and sees a mob of students and teachers looking at something.

It was Katie...turned to stone, probably a petrifaction spell, trapped in the pose that conveyed the sheer terror of the last thing she ever saw...

Upon seeing the center of attention, Dante's eyes flashed red as he sees the energy signature coming from the victim's body.

"A Devil'work." He muttered in visible anger.

／人◕ .◕人＼

The Academy head's office, later that morning…

Osmond is in serious mood as he reviewed the reports sent by the members of the Swords of Halkeginia stationed throughout Tristain.

"Hmm, looks like they're becoming more increasingly active these days."

Though he spoke in such an offhanded manner, the rest of the people in the said office knew that he is not fooling around this time.

Colbert read other reports, and paled at the contents,

"This is terrible." He said,

Dante, appeared more attentive than usual. Tapping his foot impatiently, he spoke in even tones.

"Even in this world…"

Though he has known that devils exist in the shadows, seems like this one is on the move.

There are the probably organized groups of these creatures besides the main organization that he's been tracking for some time now.

Although Dante already has the pieces of the puzzle, he is still in the process of putting things together.

"…Were still doing what we can to alleviate the situation. But as you can see, we're still having trouble as it is. We still have no idea what we're dealing with. To make things worse, we still haven't found the way to get the victims back to normal. " Osmond said narrowing his eyes.

"How many?"

"About two hundred sixteen or so have been reported." Colbert reads out a sheet,

"When did this start, by the way?"

"About two weeks ago."

"Two weeks ago huh," the devil hunter muses,

"And the places where the events occurred are marked in this map, right?" Dante asks as he pored over the large map placed on the wall, with the places where the attacks happened were marked with blue.

Taking the piece of paper containing the dates when and where the attacks happened, comparing these to the map, and another piece has been added.

"It came from Gallia, huh?" the devil hunter mumbles,

"What did you-guh?"Osmond asks but was interrupted by a white blur, hitting him squarely at the face.

Silence...

Colbert takes a look at the thing that hit the Academy Head, turns out to be a Snow Owl Familiar, which was knocked out cold from the impact.

Well, it was a double knockout, if you put Old Osmond's condition in it.

On the owl's leg is a tube, which contains a small parchment.

Colbert pales as he read the contents.

"We need to get to the Murial village as quickly as possible." Colbert said,

Dante also reads the message, his eyes narrowed and said, "You better stay here and tend to the professor."

"But."

"Since Old Osmond is indisposed at the moment, you keep watch of the students here. A well as coordinate the rest of the Swordies regarding the situation."

Swordies is Dante's coined term referring to the Swords of Halkeginia members, if you must know.

Dante then jumps out of the window, summons the Icarus in Karnival Form and flies off.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Twilight,

The Village of Murial, lies north of the Tristain's main city. Famous for its cheese, it is one of the outlying villages that are quite prosperous.

Though at the moment, the said status does not matter.

For scores of inky black Servitors, are all over the village like a scourge of nightmare locusts.

They ripped through the settlements with such force that in mere hours, the village is almost completely destroyed, injuring and killing many of the civilians who tried fight them off.

But what can pitchforks, spades and hoes can do against these otherworldly creatures?

In the midst of the chaos, a shadowy, man-shaped writhing mass of snakelike things shambled about, calmly observing the events unfolding in front of its single bloody violet, serpentine eye.

It shambles through a burning house where a family of three huddles together hidden under the table, waiting for this nightmare to end.

Unfortunately, this is reality to them.

To be trodden on by Nobles, their petty wars, and then these horrible, unspeakable creatures adding to their grief.

The nightmare creature constricts the table and finally breaks it to pieces, leaving the family exposed to its gaze.

Knowing that this is the last thing they could do as their little girl's parents, they both gave a final, sheltering hug to their daughter and whispered to her,

"Close your eyes child."

An eldritch, sickly yellow beam emanates from the creature of tentacles' eye, and hits the family in a manner like a stream of water splashes to a rock.

The abomination was apparently laughing in a sound which couldn't have come from a natural being's voice leaves the burning house, with the family in it turned to stone.

As if the creature hasn't dealt enough already, the burning house falls crashing down on the petrified family.

That event aside...

Despair hangs in the air, as the people who are currently escaping, looked back to see their village destroyed by these...things.

For one, there are a number Servitors carrying off young girls for an obviously sinister purpose.

The captives screamed and struggled in vain as the silent, seemingly emotionless creatures held them with unnatural strength.

Just as hope is about to be completely crushed,

A dozen Servitor heads suddenly explodes as a single bullet pierces through their eerily elongated, yet human-like skulls, killing them on the spot, and drops their captives, who then seized the opportunity to run away.

"Hey, hey. Didn't your mothers ever teach you the right way to pick up chicks?" A cocky voice rang through the darkness.

A man in red appears, holding a large, long rifle obviously made not in this world.

Dante has just arrived.

Meet Dante's modified Lahti anti-tank sniper rifle, the Spiral, and its Trick Shot ability.

The Servitors looked amongst themselves, trying to decide what to do, slowly nods their heads as they have arrived at the same conclusion,

'Destroy all that impedes us. Servitors, you have your orders.' A mental command reached out to their minds.

Dante, for some reason, managed to hear the same command.

"Servitors, huh? Another set of puppets.' he said to no one in particular, as he manages to catch the names of the creatures he face.

"Next name you'll take up will be 'Carcasses'. "Dante gave a rather morbid joke, narrowed his eyes and points the Spiral to their general direction.

*BOOM*

A single shot from the rifle destroys the remaining Servitors, each and every one of them are shot in the head in an instant with one bullet ricocheting from different surfaces...

The Trick Shot.

As the corpses of the devils falls down, Dante shoulders the Spiral and runs among the dead devils whose bodies transformed into Red Orbs, which ware drawn to Dante as if magnetized.

Red Orbs were then automatically added to Dante's already immense store of infernal magic.

Turning to a street, he gets accosted by a batallion of Servitors.

Poising the Spiral once more, Dante was about to deal a shot when suddenly, a rain of stone spikes skewered the blackened abominations, while ice spears, ran through the other group of the devils, a great fireball bathed into the impaled devils in flames, an explosion smashes the grouped devils, and finally, a dozen, Iron Valkyries stabs the remaining Servitors.

"Isn't this what you call an overkill?" the intelligent sword asked,

"I couldn't have done better myself," Dante said as he heard a familiar flapping of wings, and the 'Kyui, Kyui,' sound,

Looks like cavalry has arrived, though not what he had in mind, in the form of Guiche, Kirche, Tabitha and Lavinia, riding on top of Sylphid.

Oh, and Louise came along for the ride as well,

"Darling!" Kirche leaps into Dante's arms and nuzzled him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Dante asked, letting the Germanian girl remain embraced to him.

"Mission." Tabitha replies,

"Same here," Lavinia salutes the devil hunter playfully and gave a sexy wink, eliciting a hiss from Kirche.

'Oh yeah, both of them are chevalier ranked so they're basically a Noble soldier of sorts,' Dante thought,

With Kirche, he already knew the reason,

Guiche, as a Lavinia's fiancé came along to assist her.

With Louise however...

"Technically you are my familiar, so I am responsible for your actions. I'm here to...ehem... supervise." She stated putting out her flat chest...

"My, my, aren't we the cheeky one," Dante smirked as he playfully pulled her cheek, eliciting a cute cry from the mini-mage.

"Geez, give me a break here." Louise pouts, as laughter infected the group.

For a time least, the trouble has be neutralized,

Dante takes the time to look at the last disappearing Servitor, which eventually turned to Red Orbs and disappears.

But these are not the culprits that turned some of the victims to stone,

Dante suddenly felt a strong demonic presence,

"Everybody, GET DOWN!" Dante barks an order, as the group follows his command.

A beam of sickly yellow energy arcs through the air, which would have struck the group if it weren't for Dante's timely warning.

The beam splashed to a tree similar to how water would have done.

Though the resulting effect surprised the group as the tree, slowly turns to stone.

"Jackpot!" Dante crowed as he aims the Spiral and fires a quick magically charged shot straight to the devil's eye, with the bullet breaking it into shards.

The devil bursts into green flames and fades...

"That was easy. Way too easy." Dante comments, putting the large sniper rifle back to the infinite armory.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Later into the night...

Within the academy grounds, a figure under the twin moonlight can be seen.

Holding up a long staff in its right hand, the jewelled end of the staff glowed in eldritch light,

All if the sudden, the head of the staff suddenly sprang numerous snaky things.

And the snaky things began crawling all over the figure, which then appears to be struggling.

And in the end, the figure stopped struggling and let the tentacle things do as it wanted.

It seems like the nightmare on Muriel just went to another place...

／人◕ .◕人＼

A few days that followed, there were no other incident occurred.

Thus, life continued on, though the students were a bit sombre due to Katie's demise, as there have not yet found a way to reverse the petrifying spell cast on the girl, along with the rest of the victims...

After a heavy bout of training, courtesy of Dante running after the poor boy around the grounds, Guiche tiredly rests his aching body on the grass, under the shade of a tree in the courtyard, and falls asleep.

It was already afternoon when Guiche woke up.

But instead of feeling the cool grass on his head, he felt that he was lying on something soft and warm.

He looked up and sees the sleeping face of Lavinia, who's also asleep while she provided a lap pillow for the tired boy.

She must have felt Guiche move, for she opened her eyes and lovingly greets the boy.

"Good afternoon," and gives the boy a slight peck on the blushing boy's cheek,

"Y-yes, and a good afternoon to you too... Umm, you must be getting tired of this so..." Guiche tries to get up, but Lavinia stops the boy by putting her hands on the boy's shoulders,

"Please, stay put for a while. It isn't a bother for me at all. " She replies,

"... Uh, if you insist," Guiche said, remaining in his place.

A gust of cooling wind blows from the west with the sun slowly setting down to the horizon.

"Hey, Gui."

"Yes?"

"Do you love me?"

"Of course I do,"

Lavinia sighs as soon as she heard the answer,

"I'm not so sure at all, since there are times that you seem to be looking somewhere else when we're together."

"...There is something you want to tell me right?..." Guiche asked

"Well…I…"

"Just so you know, I am all ears to listen to whatever it is you wanted to tell me…" Guiche rambled on

She can't say it…

She really wanted to be with Gui for life….

As much as she wanted for him to be together with her, it seems that they can't do so anymore.

Her staff glows a sickening green light, unnoticed by the two.

Suddenly, they are no longer alone.

Tabitha is standing right in front of the two...

With her staff pointed at Lavinia.

Guiche gets up quickly and said, "Wha- What's this all about Tabitha? Please put away your staff before you hurt someone."

"Guiche, get away from her." Tabitha spoke, it is not a request, it is an order.

"What's the matter, Tabitha?" Lavinia tilted her head and asked, as if she was talking about the weather.

"Possessed." Tabitha indicated towards Lavinia,

"P-possessed, what do you mean?' Guiche stutters at the confusing statement made by the blunette.

He then turns towards his fiancé, who looks away…

"She meant that your fiancée is now a vessel of the devil which turned many people to stone, and caused much destruction with those Servitors under its command. Due to that, her commanding officer now wants Tabitha to eliminate the threat." Kirche supplied the remaining information as she appeared from under the shade of the tree.

"Th-This is a joke, right? Tell me that they're joking..." Guiche began to feel the seriousness of the situation, as he takes a look at Lavinia.

"I'm sorry Gui, I'm afraid they are correct…AAAHHH" Lavinia was about to explain herself but was interrupted by the Staff that she was holding, which burst into an indescribable mass of snake-like tentacles.

Lavinia fell to the ground in a fit of a seizure…as the staff that she held suddenly melted and merged into her hands, and the snaky things now began to slither from that point and began to grow an multiply, slowly and surely, with a purpose of completely covering Lavinia, with these abominable things…

And a burst of eldritch energy instantly turns the entire Academy into a petrified nightmare, along with the Academy staff and students.

Everyone present with Lavinia was petrified as well.

All except for Guiche,

Guiche was speechless, shocked at how Lavinia turned into,

She then tells him "This is what I am now. Do you still want me to be with you?" in the most eerie voice he had ever heard.

The slithering devil slowly shambles closer to the terrified boy,

It reached out with it's 'wriggling hands' and touched Guiche on the forehead.

As the amalgam creature touched his head, Guiche then finally saw the truth on what happened to the Lavinia and her family.

The Vision:

It was a perfect summer night, as the entire family had dinner together, laughing, eating and talking.

They are one of the Noble families who kept each and every one of the family members close-knit.

Then something crashed through the window, and imbedded itself to the wall right behind the chair of the Duke Herberte.

And just like that, the slithering devil, Gorgon, just, spread out itself into a mass of snake like tentacles and constricts everyone in the family, savouring the victims' suffering, pain and despair; while it slowly and deliberately ate the entire Herberte family alive all at once…consumed both their bodies and souls in the process.

The only one who survived from the process is Lavinia, by using the power of the Devil which tried to feed on what remained of her body and soul; she managed to take vengeance to the Devil that massacred her family by petrifying it with its own powers.

She thought it was over…Unfortunately, the Gorgon's shard of its soul remained within her, as it slowly tries to regain its sealed magical powers, and form…

For the last six years, she kept the devil at bay and her soul alive by sheer force of will.

But for the last few weeks , the devil, has emerged once more, and began to turn victims to stone as it fed on their despair.

Wishing to see Guiche once again before she completely disappears was the reason that she came to the academy.

It seems that it too late for her, as the Devil within has already begun to finish what it started.

Lavinia, in her spasms, sheds a final tear as a human,

"Gui, please...Kill me..." she begged the stunned boy,

… as she slowly loses her soul…

The devil finally caught up with her as the devil residing in the staff finally removes her soul, leaving her body empty.

And became a devil's playground.

The snake-like things slithers in and out of her body, until...it become a creature only composed of a violet serpentine eye in the center of a mass of sickeningly green tentacles, resembling eyeless snakes.

"I'm sorry Lavinia, I just can't do it." He laments, with doom moving ever closer...

The Guiche steels himself for the end, as he cannot kill Lavinia, possessed or not.

*CLANG*

Suddenly, a blur forces the Gorgon away from the boy.

"Hey kid. Are you actually refusing a girl's request?" a familiar voice spoke to him,

It was Dante, keeping the monster at bay by shooting at it with Ebony an Ivory.

"But…"

"Did you not ask me to train you to man up?" Dante chides at his student, as he gave the human shaped mass of tentacled nightmare a powerful sidekick, sending it crashing to the Academy wall.

'Hopefully, Old Osmond won't blame me for this.' The devil hunter thought on the damage he caused right then.

Speaking aloud, "Listen, being a man, doesn't always entail doing things to please a woman or to be doing nice things for her, At least try to be honest with her from time to time. That way, your relationship could grow."

Dante dodges a beam which would have petrified him.

Guiche remained silent,

"A man should be a like a rock, strong in body and spirit, enough to bear the weight and pressure that life gives him, to provide support anyone who need his help, even more so for the woman he loves." Dante said this as he rapidly shoots at the Gorgon with Ebony and Ivory,

"Like fire that passionately burns, driving him on forwards, to live, learn and love."

The Gorgon stretches its numerous tentacles that resemble snakes to capture and crush the devil hunter, only to be cut down by the Rebellion performing a Prop Shredder.

"Cool and calm like ice, able to think clearly amidst the maelstrom of life's challenges."

Dante was suddenly struck by the beam, as he was about to leap away, and slowly petrifies his body.

"And finally a compassionate heart, that you may be able to understand others and especially for those he loves."

Dante said, as the petrifying effect finally takes hold of him, forcing him down on one knee.

"Master!" Guiche snaps out of his shock as he runs to the fallen devil hunter's side.

"A pity really. Is this, the power of the Son of Sparda?" Gorgon sneered at the devil hunter, as it grew it size to about twenty mails. (Approx. 20 meters for those who don't get it.)

"Not really, I believe even this boy can defeat you," Dante said rather cockily.

"I-I can't…" Guiche stifles a cry as Dante puts his hand over the boy's head.

"Kid, you always had it in you. If you don't believe in yourself, then you should at least believe in the me that believes in you." Dante said as he hands to him the Rebellion Zweihander with his remaining unpetrified hand.

"W-well, seems like my time is up, I'm lending this to you, so better kick his ass…" Dante said as the spell finally turns his entire body to stone.

"He's still keeping that annoying cocky smirk to the end." Guiche quietly said as he rose,

Gripping tightly on to the Rebellion, he takes one final look at his fallen master,

"Master? Is this alright?" he asks the stoned Dante, (Pun intended) "Never mind, I'll just do what you just said then."

Out of nowhere, he suddenly whips out a longcoat...that is similarly designed like Dante's, only his version is Rose Pink…

Guiche throws the Rebellion spinning to the air, at the same time, flashily puts on the coat, before catching the Zweihander in one hand in an audible...

*Clang*

Yes, Guiche looked rather cool this time,

The thing is… no one else besides the monster is watching…

(Note: why didn't the devil attack during this sequence?)

For the firs time, Guiche cared nothing of his appearance at all as he concentrates and glows with his elemental magic, channelling the will of the surrounding magic to his person, allowing him to strengthen himself further.

For now let us call this method the Magical Enhancement.

"Are you saying that you can actually beat me? How absurd?" the Gorgon laughs, in a distorted voice.

All of the sudden, Guiche, holding the Rebellion quite easily, managed to instantly close the distance between them.

The devil tries to strike him down by using its numerous snake-like appendages to stab him.

But to its frustration, the boy proved to be much faster, evading all of its attempts, thanks to the training Dante gave him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Guiche then swings the Rebellion upward, slashing the Devil and launching it at the same time as the Guiche also instinctively casts an earth spell that creates a giant, earthen fist which rose to thirty mails and gave the devil an uppercut for good measure.

A modified version of the High Time.

Guiche wastes no time and follows suit, delivering multiple sword strikes combo that deals devastating damage to the airborne enemy.

The Aerial Rave.

It was delivered in such speed that the devil was unable to counterattack.

As the writhing mass falls down, Guiche performs a backflip, and took a quick foothold from the raised earthen platform he created earlier, and push kicked with all his might, sending him hurtling downwards, with the Zweihander extended.

His Finishing move, the Skyfall Stinger,

"I love you, Lavinia." Guiche conveyed his feelings to the wind.

At the same moment, he thought he just saw a flash of an image of Lavinia, smiling at him, just like when they were young.

The Stinger Move pierced the crystal-like eye of the devil, breaking it to pieces, and then spectacularly exploded in a shower of bright lights.

Guiche, tired of his exertions, lets go of Rebellion and lets himself fall down to catch his breath.

A clapping could be heard from behind the boy. Rebellion flies off the ground and towards...

"Congratulations kid, you just managed to kill your first true Devil." A Dante congratulates, easily catching the huge blade and putting it on his back in one fluid movement.

"And I'm sorry that you had to do it yourself. But she requested it."

"You knew? Wait, how did you manage to dispel the petrifying spell?"

"Apparently, I'm immune to it, as I returned to normal before you hit it with the first blow... And with the death of the true caster…" he snaps his fingers,

Another wash of magical light traversed throughout the spell-affected area.

It miraculously reversed the recently pertrified court along with Kirche and Tabitha.

And the entire Academy.

All over Tristain, the people who were affected by the spell recovered, much to the relief of everyone…

A great shout of joy could be heard from miles/mails around Tristain of the people celebrating their reuniting with the then petrified victims.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Later, in a cemetery in the outskirts of Tristain,

A recovered Dante and Guiche, along with Louise, Kirche and Tabitha, silently looked on the pile of stones, carefully made by Guiche, in honor of Lavinia,

Guiche then hangs a cute bluebird pendant on her epitaph, something she wanted to have one time they wandered out the day before.

After a moment of silence…

The girls leave the two behind as Guiche sadly watched the setting sun...

"After what happened, I'm glad to see that you've outgrown yourself…" Dante comments,

"To be honest, I don't feel like I have grown at all, though…" Guiche mumbled, as he knelt, staring blankly into the crude grave.

"You can cry if you want..." Dante puts a hand to the boy,

With that, Guiche's tears began to fall.

A cry to the heavens could be heard...

Someone was watching Guiche from a distance.

Montmorency, who distanced herself the whole time, but still kept watch of the nearly entire thing, also wept.

"You should go to him right now." Someone spoke behind her,

It was Dante, currently relaxing on a tree branch,

"I'm not much on the comforting type of guy, but I know a certain someone who needs you."

"But, How? Where to begin?"

"Just being with him right now would be a nice start." Dante smirked before Air Tricking out.

Later...Montmorency stayed with Guiche, as he cried his heart out in front of the grave...

／人◕ .◕人＼

A week later…

With the devil attack case closed, the school activity resumes its normal course.

Though, that depends on the point of view.

'...' Dante was speechless as he took back his comment about the said boy growing up,

Guiche pull another woo session with the girl now known as the sexy bookworm, M'selle Emily Crewe.

"Ah, M'selle Crewe, It would be an outmost honor to me if you please allow me to carry your books." Guiche tries to look his best in speaking to the rather distraught but blushing young lady.

Flashback,

"I've decided to continue being like this..."

"Is that so?" Dante raised up an eyebrow,

It seemed that Guiche wanted to return to his old ways, with a slight sense of responsibility towards his actions (hopefully), apparently to honor the deceased Lavinia's wish of Guiche to become the best lover.

"Do what you want. It's your life after all. Just make sure that once you settle down, stick with your true love..." Dante lectures the boy,

"My true love, huh..." Guiche stares into space...

Truth be told, Lavinia still has a space in his heart, but then again, so is...

"Montmorency..."

Flashback ends...

'Oh well, can't be helped then, time for some even more intense training…' Dante decides, as his trigger finger itched for another crazy idea walking towards the boy...

／人◕ .◕人＼

After that episode... here's a little something to slightly tickle the funny bone, depending in your sense of humor of course.

Here's an Omake-like but Canon skit...

This evening as the curtain opens up, we see our devil hunter looking rather nostalgic, as Louise slept peacefully on her bed.

Scanning through the Media Player he earlier acquired (Please See Mission 6), he looked at the contents of the over 200 TB memory of files. Besides the music files, he finds a bunch of movies, books, other files, sceneries, and finally, lots of pictures of beautiful girls in trendy clothes.

Strangely, there is no information within it about the owner of the device.

Though he suspects that the corrupted data he found could be the owner's.

Well, it seems like he's been gone for some time… judging by the stuff he saw in the said Media Player.

Not to mention, the device itself.

It has other various operational applications that Dante has never seen before, it even has a solid light keyboard function and voice command, which are originally set in Japanese…

And this device was at least thousands of years old when he found it…

"…." Dante continued to stare at the device, and realized…

How long was he gone from earth?

"Man, I really wish I would return home and see things myself…." Dante groans as he looked at the scene of the white sand beach teeming with hot, beautiful babes in the sexiest bikinis ever seen.

The original owner must have been a babe enthusiast, just as he is.

Girls might refer to him as a lecher,

"Watch it Bud!" Dante growls,

Sorry.

He had to admit, he's currently bored… browsing through the picture files, he sees at a certain young model's ensemble, another crazy idea popped in his head…

"Hmm."

／人◕ .◕人＼

Later in the morning,

The sunlight shining radiantly at Austri's Plaza, Dante was in deep thought.

Then he raised his face, gazed at the work of art he had a certain tailor make for him, and once again started to go grin from his excitement.

Dante muttered quietly.

"Man. The things people do out of boredom."

Dante let himself fall down on the grass and said,

"All I need now is a model. One who should look like an angel, maybe someone like..."

"HER!"

Then he said as he randomly pointed at the said angel that he first saw with his eyes.

And of all people who had to come across his vision,

"Siesta?"

Siesta, dumbfounded, was staring at Dante's whole act of randomness.

"Dante-san... is strange..."

She murmured unintentionally.

That was exactly just how abnormal Dante was acting.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Holding up the clothes Dante had custom made earlier, Siesta comments…

"B-but, these clothes..."

"What? Something wrong with it?"

Dante walked towards her.

"W, well... I mean, this is a military uniform, right? Even if I wear this, it won't look good..."

"Don't say such things, You'll Look Good in it!"

Dante's intimidating attitude caused Siesta to go "Hii..." and back off.

"In this world, that is certainly an outfit for the naval soldiers. But In my world, girls your age wear that and go to school, continuing in present its progressive form."

"Y-Yes..."

'Aah, Dante-san is surpassing strange...'

Then Dante spoke, but his eyes seemed teary.

"It is called sailor uniform in my world."

Siesta thought 'So that is what this was about...'

This is an outfit from Dante-san's birthplace...

Well, not exactly.

Even so, Siesta honestly felt happy that Dante had clothes made for her.

And now, to Dante who was delighting over having her dress in his birthplace's outfit, she felt darling.

If Dante was normal right now, pulling away from him would be the only thing possible to do, but for that reason, Siesta blushed.

"At first, I thought Dante-san went crazy, but he had such a reason..."

I understand! Siesta nodded, and turned around to face Dante seriously.

"What should I do to please you even more?" she asked,

Dante, once again, looked at Siesta's appearance from the top to bottom.

First, the upper half.

It was a beautiful gem made which is inspired from an Albion's sailor suit he saw during his wanderings through town, and he had a set of four made, for some reason.

White long sleeves with black cuffs. The collar and scarf were deep blue in color. Three white lines ran across the collar.

And then, Dante condensed his genius into "length".

Dante, to his utmost ability not to mention that one particular picture he found in that IPOD, which is hidden under the file name, S.H. - Secret Stash, and instructed M'selle Swift to make the waist area short as he saw from the picture.

By shortening the length of the upper half, it only reached to the top of the skirt. Therefore, whenever Siesta twisted her body, he could see her belly button.

Dante was pleased with the results and will have the original owner of the IPOD to be thanked, should he ever see that guy.

Now, the skirt.

He had based the designs on Louise's alternate uniform, a pleated skirt, since the design on that particular picture he saw was out of the question. This, as well, was shortened to the best he could muster.

As a result, most likely the first skirt in this other world to be fifteen centimeters above the knees was created.

And then the socks.

Those were the result from a clash between the picture and reality. Dante carefully chose and arranged deep blue socks.

Dante shook his head as he did this,

"For some reason, I feel compelled to do this..."

Seems like the fate is still forcing stuff that was supposed to happen, whether Dante liked it or not.

Back to the designing...

Shoes.

They were the high-laced boots Siesta always wore. It was the only scratch in this glittering work of art.

Well, that depends on the beholder.

He really wanted loafers in the ensemble.

But sadly, loafers did not exist in this world.

Anyways, these articles were all scrutinized and coordinated by Dante, the best he could.

'Great. Now I'm a fashion designer for girls...' Dante deadpans, commenting on his current activity.

Not that he can't design an ensemble…it's always directed to his own clothing.

Well, he already did the same with Louise few days after that summoning ritual, with that costume of hers at the presentation of familiars.

On to the fitting...

The current model's big breasts, usually covered and hidden by an apron, were raised up by the hand-made sailor uniform. Her healthy slender legs were sucked into the fifteen-centimeter-above-knees skirt.

Siesta usually didn't wear such short skirts. Well, she never had before.

The mix of nostalgia and freshness made him even more emotionally moved.

"Tell me! Dante-san! What should I do?" the maid asks,

Dante thought.

Seriously, he's staking his dignity here.

Not like he has any in the first place,

*BANG*

HEY! What Gives?

*BANG* *BANG*

Oi, you're shooting at the author here,

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Hey, Stop that!

*CLICK*

"Then you should stop trying to write insults at me." Dante growls as he continued to point the smoking Ebony at the said Author.

Sure, sure...Shall we continue this?

"Like do I have a choice?" Dante sighed as he replied at the author, holstering the black pistol.

Siesta just stares at the strange behaviour of her beloved,

Er, anyway, on with the scene...

The devil hunter recalled all kinds of stuff regarding modelling.

Like a high-powered engine, Dante's gearhead rotated, something popped up.

'That is not what I had in mind but...'

With an obviously forced voice, he squeezed out

"Spin around."

"Eh?"

"Round and around, turn like that. Then, after that, say 'Sorry to keep you waiting!' cheerfully to me."

Siesta drew back.

Dante was now coinciding with the type of men her mother told her not to get close to when she was young.

Still, Siesta wanted to please him.

Love wins over common sense after all...

Well, most of the time…

As if to prepare herself, "Y-yes..." she nodded, and Siesta spun around. Her scarf and skirt lightly flew up into the air.

"So-sorry to keep you waiting."

"That's not it!"

"Hii!"

"At the end, you raise a finger and go "ne". Cheerfully. One more time."

Nodding, Siesta repeated what she was told. Seeing this, Dante smiled, with tears in his eyes.

'What the hell am I doing?' his inner self asked,

Now he seemed to recall a certain someone's statement,

'This is just like my favourite Anime.'

"Thank you for y, y, y, your bravery." Siesta stammers, as her thoughts on the situation continued to bug her.

'Is this okay, Siesta? Is it really okay for this person?' She kind of felt that from the more composed part of her, but Siesta shut off that negativity.

'Every person has hobbies and preferences that they can't tell others. Dante-san is no exception. Yeah, that's all... Yes, that's it!' She tells herself brightly and smiled.

Siesta is strong.

Very strong.

"What should I do next?"

"Hmmm, next is..."

When Dante folded his arms and started pondering over this, a group of two walked over to them in an awkward manner.

It was Guiche and the fat Malicorne.

An unusual duo.

It seemed the two had been staring at Siesta from some shelter.

"Ehem, Master?", Guiche coughed to grab attention.

"That is... what? What are those clothes?"

For some reason, Guiche was furious while looking like he was going to cry. Malicorne, too, pointed to Siesta while trembling.

"O-o, o, outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! Isn't that right? Guiche!"

"Aah, this! I've never seen such an outrageous outfit before! It-it-it!"

"It directly attacks the br-br-brain!"

The two's eyes glittered heatedly, and stared at Siesta as if to eat into her.

*Waaan* the headaches multiplied, Siesta felt miserable, but these two were nobles.

Because she had to, Siesta forcibly smiled.

That smile and sailor uniform seemed to have completely damaged Malicorne and Guiche, since they started to draw near her in a staggering gait like a somnambulist's.

'Not good, it seemed that this ensemble totally killed their sense of morality…" the devil hunter thought upon seeing the scene.

Yep, she's in trouble should she remain here.

"Siesta, Run!" Dante yells to the maid, causing the said girl to flinch,

Siesta, sensing danger to her body as well, said hurriedly as she bowed, "Well, I'm going back to work!" and ran away.

"How lovely..." Guiche murmured in a dreaming tone as he watched her run off.

"Absolutely..." Malicorne also murmured, spellbound.

Actually the reverse happened to Dante, as the situation seemed to have let its grip of his actions.

And the fact that this is even a slightly toned down set, Dante is now worried what would happen should he actually suggest to M'selle Swift to make more of these 'modern' styles of clothing line to the Nobles.

And with the job Dante commissioned her, it gave her some new ideas she would like to try, with Dante's critical eye of course.

Dante shrugged, 'Fashion marches on.'

Back to the current scene…

He then hears the giggling of the veiled woman...

"Ohohohohohohohoho!" her laughter echoes,

As Dante then turns around and finds himself back to that space where he met the said entity.

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm just passing through..." the veiled lady cheerily waves at the confused devil hunter, he really felt as if he's being played with.

Then finds himself back to the Austri's Plaza, and upon seeing the dazed duo...

"What did you come here for?" Dante yelled at the duo, just to get the kinks out of the confusing event that just happened, and the two finally came back to their senses.

Then, Guiche, in a speed unknown to the devil hunter, suddenly found the boy grovelling in front of him.

"M-Master. Where did you buy that outfit?"

"What about it?"

Guiche said with an embarrassed smile, as he looked up to his master's face,

"Th-there is a person I want to give the outfit to as a present."

"The Princess?" Dante guessed,

"It's not her, Idiot! Ow!" Guiche was stopped from insulting the devil hunter further as a big boot steps on his head.

"You were saying?" Dante grinned ferally, as he sunk the boy's head to the ground by stepping on his head, before he let the boot off the young man.

"Sorry Master. But she's too much! Her Majesty the Princess is now Her Majesty the Queen! Aah, she has gone to a high place where I cannot reach... It was better when she was a princess, but now as the queen..."

'What high place? You never had a chance since the beginning.' Dante thought, but he decided to stay silent and listen.

"There, I finally remembered. That person who was always beside me, constantly looking at me with her lovely eyes... That beautiful blond hair. That sweet, perfume-like smile..."

'Ah, his ex-girlfriend.' Dante realized.

"Monmon-something, right?"

"Not Monmon! It's Montmorency!"

"I see. You want to be close to her again." Dante muses

Guiche nods in agreement,

"You know, you really don't have any integrity." Dante follows it up.

"I don't want to be told by… OW!" Guiche was about to insult Dante the second time when a fist came crashing on his head.

"Seriously. Are you secretly a glutton for punishment?" Dante asked,

"Master, Please, tell me. Where is that outfit sold?"

"It's custom-made."

"I-I see, it can't be helped..." Guiche spoke sadly, like a kicked puppy.

Though he was kind of kicked earlier.

Dante, having similar experiences with girls, (on very rare occasions) couldn't help it but...

"I still have two more. Use them as you please."

It pulled out Dante's maximum concession instantly.

"But still, just what is that outfit? I think I've seen that somewhere before... Don't sailors wear these clothes? For, hmm, a girl to wear it and give off such charms! How mysterious..."

Folding his arms together, Dante grins with pride.

"Of course. It has my charming magic cast on it."

／人◕ .◕人＼

End note:

I had no idea what to write as a filler of sorts but then again this came up...

To well-read readers, I'm sure you can recognize where I took the names of our guests from in the fic...

And there are some clues in it regarding their possible roles in the future...

Just an experiment, but still Canon in my tale...

So I did...

Real Life Work sucks in this side of the world... X( Help!

PLEASE REVIEW...

TILL NEXT TIME! XD


	21. Mission 21: Confusion, Love Potions

Let's continue with the story shall we…

Mission 21 : Confusion, Love Potion, Secrets

／人◕ .◕人＼

Fantasy fic: Montmorency, wears a dress similar to Nevan's black dress...giving the audience a sultry 'come hither' gesture…

／人◕ .◕人＼

Hmm... For Something Different, Let's try to see what the other characters are doing at the moment...

Montmorency, prideful of her long, curly golden hair and vivid blue eyes, was mixing a potion in her room at the dormitory. Leaning her tall body on a chair, she was engrossed in mixing a secret potion inside a pot with a wooden pestle.

Montmorency the "Fragrance", a mage of the "water" element, had a hobby of magical medicine... potion making. And just like her second name suggested, her specialty was perfume making. The perfumes she made were known for the uniquely lovely fragrance they emit, and she was extremely popular with the ladies and town girls.

Today, Montmorency was zealously creating a certain potion.

It was not just any potion. What a thing, how wrong that it was a forbidden potion. By the country's proclamation, it was an item forbidden to be created or used.

Montmorency sold the perfumes she made in the town and slowly saved up money. And then, today, this day, she used the money she saved up and obtained the recipe for the forbidden potion, as well as the high priced secret medicine needed for the mixing, at a dark magic store.

Hobbies win over moral.

Getting fed up over making normal potions, Montmorency felt like creating something forbidden despite knowing that an enormous fine would be imposed on her if she was discovered.

Along with the mashed up fragrant wood, dragon sulfur, and mandragora, at last, to pour in the essential secret medicine... the liquid that she had paid a large amount of money to obtain, she grabbed the small bottle beside her.

'Just a small quantity...' For just this little amount of liquid stored in the perfume bottle, Montmorency used up pretty much all of the money she had saved up.

700 in écu gold coins. An amount of money a commoner could use to live five to six years.

When she tilted the small bottle to the pot, being careful not to spill anything...

Someone knocked on the door, causing Montmorency to leap up.

"Wh-who is it... At a time like this..."

She placed the ingredients and utensils that were on the desk inside the drawer. After that, she headed towards the door while combing her hair upwards.

"Who is it?"

"It's me! Guiche! Your eternal servant! Open this door for me!"

"Who? is? an eternal servant?" Montmorency muttered. She knew about his unfaithful nature quite well.

When they walked together in the town, he would get distracted and look restlessly around at the beautiful women. When they drank wine at a bar, he would make advances at the waitresses whenever she left her seat for a bit.

Finally, he would forget about a date promise and go pick flowers for a girl somewhere else.

It was quite annoying to hear him say 'eternal'.

Montmorency spoke in an irritated voice.

"Why did you come here? I already broke up with you."

"I don't think like that at all. But if you think that way, then it is my fault... After all, see, I love beautiful things. In other words, I am a servant to beauty... Like you already know, art, that's right, art! I'm too weak against beautiful things..."

'You love art? For someone with bad tastes, you sure can say things.' She thought.

The color of the shirt he wore for dates was gingira violet, and she got a headache the time he came wearing a red and green scarf.

Then came that flaming pink long coat, Guiche modelled after his 'Master's'…

For someone that was good looking as Guiche, his tastes for stuff are rather ugly.

With the exception of girls, just to be clear.

"But I've made sure that I will no longer accept any art except you. After all, you seem to be the most art-like. Um, like your blond hair."

'Are you an idiot?'

"Go away. I am busy."

When Montmorency said that coldly, silence fell for a while.

After that, Guiche breaking down and crying could be heard in the corridor.

"I understand... Being told like that, I can only perish on this spot. If I'm hated by you, who I love, so badly, then there is no worth at all in life."

"Do what you want."

Men like Guiche couldn't die just because they get rejected.

It is more likely for Montmorency to kill him before that happens.

Montmorency kept up her indifferent attitude.

"Now then, I want to, at least... on the door of the room you live in, I will carve proof that I have lived... that I have loved you."

'The hell he's trying to do?'

"Wh-what are you doing? Stop that!"

The sound of something hard could be heard scratching on the door.

"The man who sacrificed himself for love, Guiche de Gramont. Destroyed by eternal love, he dies here... There."

'Damn it, he'll leave a mess out there when he does that.'

"Not 'there'! Geez!"

Montmorency opened the door. Guiche was standing there with a full smile on his face.

"Montmorency! I love you! I really love you! I love you! I love you!"

And then, he embraced her tightly. Montmorency was enthralled for a moment.

Anyways, Guiche continuously said "I love you".

It was because of his lack of vocabulary regarding wooing, but no matter how many times he said that, she didn't feel bad.

Then, Guiche handed the bundle he was holding to Montmorency.

"...What is this?"

"Open it up. It is a present for you."

Montmorency opened up the bundle. It was the sailor uniform from Dante's collection of clothes. For some reason our devil hunter had another set of clothes made from the esteemed M'selle Taylor Swift, this one inspired by the clothes Lady had worn during their first meeting and the Albion navy uniform, with a few add ons. (To those who forgot who M'selle Taylor was, please see Mission 6 : A Thing of the Past).

Dante later had asked M'selle Swift to remake the uniform to fit Montmorency's body, Guiche always memorized the sizes of the girls he got along with.

Though Dante is rather curious as to how the blonde boy managed to get that very intimate information from said girls,

Though he had to admit, the devil hunter himself also had sharp observation skills regarding stuff like that.

"What a strange outfit..." Montmorency raised her eyebrows.

"How about you wear it? It will definitely fit you. Your purity will be amplified manifold. Come on. Hurry. What, I'm facing in another direction."

Facing backwards, Guiche started to bite his nails restlessly. Seeing the inevitable, Montmorency took off her shirt and put on the outer garment.

"I'm done."

Turning around, Guiche's face brightened energetically.

"Aah, Montmorency~... You really are pure... My cute Montmorency~..."

While muttering that, Guiche tried to kiss her. Right away, Montmorency obstructed him.

"Monmon..."

Guiche's face distorted sadly.

"Don't misunderstand. I opened the door to my room, but I didn't open this door. I haven't decided to make up with you yet. Also, who are you calling Monmon?"

With just that, Guiche was happy. There was still some hope left.

"My Montmorency! You feel like considering it, I see!"

"If you understand, then leave! I was in the middle of something!"

Saying "Yes, yes, of course I'll leave. If you say so, I'll leave any time." Guiche left the room hopping.

Montmorency reflected herself in the mirror.

"What is this... There's no way I could wear something so embarrassingly short-lengthed!"

Unintentionally, her face reddened. Though looking carefully, this outfit was quite cute. Guiche had purposely prepared this outfit for her sake.

Though in reality, it was Dante who actually conceived the idea, and provided the clothes too.

He never said to be this forceful with the wooing though, which is entirely Guiche's.

'Umumumu...'She silently sighed,

Well, yeah, being told "I love you" like that, she was in a pretty good mood. They were going out originally, so she didn't hate him.

"What to do? Forgive him?"

But, she remembered the way Guiche cheated on her in the past.

Even if I go out with him again, won't everything just repeat all over again?

Then that busty hussy who claimed to be his fiancée in the past, the abrupt change she caused him...

Then came her apparent demise

Montmorency wondered … if Guiche still remembered that time he cried on her shoulders…

But in general, she was fed up with getting worried over his cheating.

What should I do? While she was thinking that, she remembered the potion she had been mixing. She opened the drawer. She saw the secret medicine inside the perfume bottle that she had hid a moment ago.

Montmorency tilted her head and started to ponder.

'Hmm… it is a good trade... I can also test for the effectiveness...'

How about I use this potion a bit after it is completed, Montmorency thought.

The next day, everyone's attention focused on Montmorency simultaneously when she entered the classroom. Why, she had appeared wearing the sailor uniform.

The male students reacted quickly to this.

Sailor outfit and girl... Feeling a fresh tidiness at this exquisite grouping that they'd never imagined before, they stared engrossed at Montmorency. In regards to the way the guys reacted, the female students quickly felt jealousy and envy, and they glared at her.

Montmorency managed to monopolize the glances of everyone in the class, so she was in a good mood. Putting her hand on her hip, she looked upwards and pridefully put on airs and headed to her seat.

Louise was also staring at Montmorency while gaping.

She looked rather good in it.

Louise poked Dante, who was beside her and grinning for some reason.

"Hey, aren't those similar to the clothes you had made for me some time ago? Why is Montmorency wearing it?"

"Guiche needed a make-up gift for Monmon."

Louise remembered that Guiche and Montmorency had been going out with each other.

Then that weird incident involving Guiche, which nearly resulted to the loss of all the students from the academy.

"Why did you give it to Guiche?"

Dante just shrugs.

On to the next scene….

／人◕ .◕人＼

Now after the classes are over, Louise was walking around the school and searching for her familiar.

Ever since he said he was going to feed his pigeon, Dante had not shown himself.

Getting to the tower of fire, she peeked inside Mister Colbert's laboratory. Even if you call it a laboratory, it's just a worn-out shack. Whenever Colbert had free time, he usually hung out in there.

But, Dante was not there. Colbert, by himself, was doing something noisily to the Karnival that was left in front of his laboratory.

Louise asked Colbert.

"Mister Colbert, have you seen Dante?"

"I don't know... He hasn't come here for two or three days."

Louise looked at the Biplane and was astonished. The engine part of the nose had been removed from the body and placed on the ground, and it had been tragically disassembled.

"Oh, this! I just got interested in the structure. I didn't get permission from Dante, but I lightly disassembled it. It's complicated, but theoretically speaking, it is not much different from the 'Joyful Snake' I designed. Still, this is quite a fragile thing. If it flies once, it has to be precisely disassembled and have the parts looked over. Otherwise, not only will it fail to perform to its original efficiency, there is also a chance it will break..."

Colbert finally started talking about the engine's structure and maintenance.

"Ha, hah... Well then, pardon me."

Louise didn't really have interest in that conversation, so she bowed her head and started to run once again. Colbert shouted at her back.

"Miss! If you meet M'sieu Dante, tell him this! I have placed a surprising new weapon onto this 'Dragon's Raiment'!

The next place Louise visited was the tower of wind. In the magic academy, towers were arranged into a pentagram with the main tower in the center. The tower of wind was one of them. It was mostly only used for lessons. There was only one entrance.

Louise witnessed the suspicious shadow of a person disappearing through the door into the tower. Whitish clothing... a large collar.

Clearly, it was the sailor outfit worn by Montmorency just a while ago.

Who is it? If it was Montmorency, then it would be blond hair... The person who entered a moment ago had black hair. Louise secretly followed the person.

Opening the door to the tower of wind, she ran straight down the corridor that had semicircular rooms arranged to the left and right.

Slowly pushing the door open, she heard the sound of footsteps steadily climbing up the staircase.

After Louise held her breath on the first floor for a while, she pursued after the person. She heard the sound of a door opening and closing on the second floor.

To keep herself from making sounds from her footsteps, Louise cautiously came up to the door. There, Louise leaned her body closely to it. This should be the warehouse. Just what does the person wearing the white sailor outfit plan to do here?

Louise pushed back her pink-blond hair and placed her ear on the door. She heard a strange voice from inside. An intermittent one...

"Haah, Nn, Haahaa..."

That kind of voice. Louise's eyebrows bent into a "?". Because it was small, she could not figure out who it was.

But, it was a guy's.

At a place like this, calling out someone wearing those garments... A person who can make those voices...

Louise thought up a terrible delusion inside her mind.

"Haa! Cu-cu, cute..."

Cute? At that moment, something flipped inside Louise's head.

Baang! She opened the door and pounced into the room.

"What are you doing?"

"Hiiiiii!"

The person there turned around. The person was wearing the sailor outfit, and what's more, was wearing a skirt below. Sure enough, it was the fat Malicorne.

A thought similar to WTF? crossed her mind.

"Ma-Ma, Malicorne?"

"Louise!" Malicorne tried to run and escape, but he wasn't used to the skirt, so his feet got tangled in it and he fell over.

"Ah! Nna! Ah! Fua! AAH!"

Malicorne shouted while writhing on the floor. With the look of an ogre, Louise trampled on Malicorne's back. In the warehouse was an old mirror. The "Liar's Mirror". It was a mirror that reflected ugly things beautifully and beautiful things unattractively, but for various reasons, it almost got broken, so it was shut here. It seemed Malicorne was finding self-satisfaction in reflecting himself in the mirror. What a preposterous pleasure.

"Why are you wearing that?"

"No, it was just too lovely... Bu-but, I don't have anyone to wear it for me..."

"So you wore it yourself?"

"Th-that's right! Is that wrong? I-I have to wear it myself! Guiche has Montmorency and your commoner of a familiar has that maid from the kitchen! But, I don't have a girlfriennnnnd!"

"What did you say? What about Dante and the maid?"

Louise's eyes went up.

"Eh? Well, he had the maid wear these clothes and spin around... Aah, it was moving! Just thinking back to it, my heart feels burnt from those lovely senses! That's why I should at least reflect myself in this mirror wearing it as a memento of that memory... Aaah, I... I'm such a lovely fairy... AAAaaaaahh!"

Malicorne shouted. Louise trampled that face with her foot.

"Silence."

"Ah! Aah! Ah! Louise! Ah! Louise! Being stepped on by a beautiful girl like you... I feel like I'll lose my sense! Clear away my sins! Let me repent for it! Crush my sins of losing control over myself from acting like a lovely fairy in a place like this! There's something wrong with me! Ah! Ah! Nnnnaaaaaaaaa!"

Just like that, Louise trampled Malicorne's face and caused him to faint.

"Yeah, there is something wrong with you."

The Author sagely nods in agreement.

Louise muttered, her shoulders moving up and down from anger.

"I see... So that is what it was about... The maid is that good... So she's so good that you would give her a lovely outfit as a present... Plus, you had fun making her spin around and around? Don't joke with me."

Tightly squeezing her hands into fists, Louise growled.

"Dante Must Die!"

At the corner of the appointed place, Vestri Plaza, Siesta came up to the staircase of the tower of fire after night had completely fallen. After her job ended, it took time to clean her body with a bath and finish dressing up.

She headed towards the landing of the staircase, but Dante was not there. There were only two barrels there. The surroundings were dim. Siesta worriedly looked around her.

"Dante-san..."

Discouragingly muttering that, the cover of a barrel opened up with a sound.

Siesta instinctively backed off, but Dante popped up from inside it.

"Siesta."

"Wah! Dante-san! Why are you there?"

"Well, there were some circumstances... Wai-, eh?"

Dante looked at Siesta's appearance and his eyes widened. She was wearing that handmade sailor uniform.

"Y-you came wearing it?"

"Eh, yes... Because, I thought Dante-san would be happier if I wore this."

Crap. I should have said return it, instead of bring it. There's no way I can tell her to take it off right here. While Dante was panicking like that, Siesta spun around and stood a finger in front of her face.

The skirt lightly soared up.

"Un, um... Th-thanks for waiting."

Then Siesta smiled brightly.

' C, cute.' Dante involuntarily blushed.

For an experienced guy like Dante to do that, that says something about the maid.

At that time, the sound of a barrel shaking behind them happened.

Siesta went "Kyaa!" and clung to Dante.

"Nyaa, nyaa" came the cry of a cat.

Dante stroked his chest in relief.

But for some reason, he felt a slight killing intent floating in the air.

"Oh, just a cat..."

But, the problem wasn't the cat. Siesta was pressing her breasts on him. They were squashed by Dante's chest, and the handmade sailor uniform freely changed its shape.

Dante's face paled.

This sensation is.

"S-Siesta, um..."

"What is it?"

"You aren't wearing a bra?"

Siesta looked blankly at him.

"What is a bra?"

"Eh? Eeeeehhh? You know, to the breasts, like this, protect it..."

But, Siesta still looked blankly at him. It seems there are no bras in this world.

"I do wear drawers and a corset under my shirt when I am in my maid outfit though..."

Then she blushed.

"But, I am not wearing anything right now. Drawers would show if I wore it along with this short skirt..."

'What the...' Dante inwardly swore as he realized, and asked the pressing maid,

"What are drawers?"

"Eh? Um, undershorts."

'Oh right, those things that look like expanded spats. Wait? Weren't she wearing simple panties the last time?'

'Haah, her breasts felt like heaven.' Dante thought while looking up at the sky. He felt that he would get a nosebleed if he didn't do so.

'More importantly, there are no bras? I see. Now that I think about it, that nice time I had with Siesta, she didn't have one; then when I was taking Louise's underwear to laundry; I have memories of the maids washing panties, chemise, and corsets, but no memories of bras. I thought it was because she didn't have breasts, but it seems bras themselves don't exist.'

Also, while noble girls can wear laced underwear, it can't be the same way with commoner girls like Siesta, right? Eh? She isn't wearing anything right now?

'Wh-which means...'

"You're so mean, Dante-san... I do not possess any small laced underwear like the nobles do... Yet, you have me wear such a, such a short skirt..."

In other words, she isn't wearing it.

'INDEED!'

Inside his head, fanfare resounded like an army's cavalry charging trumpet solo.

'Are we going to do it in this place?' The maid thought,

Steeling one more her resolve, she does the most obvious.

To her point of view of course.

Siesta tightly leaned her body on Dante. She hugged his shoulders with such strength. Slowly, Siesta drew her lips closer to Dante's.

"Wait... Are, are we going to do it here?"

"Eh?"

"Well, yes, I am a village girl, so, um, I don't mind the location, but, um..."

"Siesta?"

"A more, um, cleaner place that people wouldn't go to would be better. Ah, but this is just a wish! So if Dante-san says this place is good, then I am fine too. Aah, I'm scared. After all, this is my second time. Mother, forgive me. I'm going to be snatched away once more here."

'It seemed she was really misunderstanding things. Dante only wanted her to have a talk regarding her current status as an Umbra Witch's descendant.

But Siesta thought she was going to be snatched away. Again.

The moment he thought that he needed to explain...

Behind them, the cover of the other barrel popped straight up.

"What the...?"

When Dante turned around, the fallen barrel cover directly hit his head.

"Gyaa!"

Then from inside the barrel, a silhouette stood up as the ground shook thunderously. Actually, the only thing that shook was the barrel, but it felt like the actual ground was trembling.

That was just how angry the person inside the barrel was.

"Louise..."

Dante muttered with a deadpan voice. Siesta was frightened by Louise, whose head was poking out of the barrel, and hid in Dante's shadow.

"Why are you inside a barrel...?"

"I was tailing you and saw you secretly hide inside a barrel, so I copied you and hid inside the barrel beside you. I was really careful to not make a sound. But, I hit the barrel in anger a bit. The 'nyaa, nyaa' part."

Aah, that cat's cry was Louise. All of it, completely, she had heard our conversation just now. Louise's face was pale with anger. Her eyes rose up; her whole body was trembling like an earthquake. With a completely trembling voice, Louise murmured.

"That's quite a wonderful pigeon you're raising, isn't it. Heeh. A lovely outfit as a present, huh. Fine. I am kind, so I'll forgive something like that. I don't really mind you ignoring your master and sending your pigeon presents."

"Louise, listen."

"But, that pigeon said this. 'You have me wear such a short skirt'. Without any underwear, 'you have me wear such a short skirt'. The best. That's the best joke this century."

"Louise! Listen! Please!"

"Relax. It won't hurt. With my "Void", I won't leave a speck of you left."

Setting up her "Founder's Prayer Book", Louise began to chant her spell.

Dante nearly facepalmed himself at the situation he's in.

Sensing danger to his life, Dante instinctively released his battle senses.

Siesta had become scared and hid herself in a shelter.

"What is with you? Are you planning to oppose your master? Isn't that interesting?"

Louise muttering that was scary, to normal people that is. With the current power level Dante could detect, she might as well be.

More than a battleship, more than a dragoon, more than an orc/demon, more than Cobalt or even Mundus... Louise was scarier than anything up to now.

Dante's body automatically switched to battle mode.

What's with this intensity...

Is this "Void"...

"Partner, give up."

Derflinger whispered in a bored manner.

Demonstrating the usual foolhardiness, Dante stood his ground.

Angry or not, Louise has become a ticking time bomb...literally.

And this is Ground Zero...

"Bring it on!" Dante grins,

The rune on Dante's right hand shone as his body glowed an eldritch red light... Louise swung her wand down half-way though her chanting.

Boom! And the area in front of Dante exploded.

Being swallowed by the flash, Dante was blown off the landing and struck the ground below, still on his feet.

"Whoa, that was intense." Dante exclaimed,

After striking the ground, Dante's face showing grim determination, and he stood up and ran away.

There is no need for collateral damage due to a misunderstanding.

'Wait, why is she angry in the first place?' Dante reflects.

Louise peeked out from the landing and shouted.

"Wait!"

'Like I'd wait. If I wait, I'd die. Absolutely die.' He joked inwardly, as he jogged off.

Louise chased after him.

Meanwhile,

Guiche was trying his very best in Montmorency's room to woo his lover.

About how Montmorency's appearance was like a rose, like a wild rose, like a white rose, how her eyes were like blue roses, anyways, he used roses and complimented her, and then he extolled her by using the spirit of water as comparison.

Montmorency, being no exception among the Tristain nobles, was proud and conceited, so she did not hate flattery. However, her back was turned to Guiche, and she, acting, looked out the window wearily. It was the "Compliment me more" sign.

Seeing this, Guiche searched his head even more and unleashed words to attract her affection.

"In front of you, wouldn't the spirit of water run away? See, this hair... It is like a golden grassland. It's a sea of glittering stars. Aah, any female besides you can no longer enter my eye."

Guiche kept going in and out of the room, and he had already spat out enough lines to make a drama. I guess this should be enough Montmorency thought.

Slowly, still facing backwards, she gently held out her left hand to Guiche. "Aah" Guiche let out a moan of wonder and kissed that hand.

"Aah, my Montmorency~..."

Guiche tried to bring his lips near hers, but it was stopped by her finger.

"Before that, let us drink some wine. Since you went through the trouble of bringing it here."

"Of, of course!"

On the top of the table, a vase with flowers in it, a bottle of wine, and two ceramic glasses were placed.

Guiche had come to Montmorency's room carrying those in his hand.

Guiche hurriedly poured the wine into the glass. Doing so, Montmorency suddenly pointed out the window.

"Oh? A naked princess is flying in the sky."

"Eh? Where? Where, where?"

Guiche's eyes widened and stared outside the window as if to eat into it. W-h-a-t i-s "any female besides you can no longer enter my eye", it seems that I have to use this. While thinking that, Montmorency secretly poured the contents of the small bottle she had hidden in her sleeves into Guiche's wine cup. The transparent fluid dissolved into the wine.

Montmorency smiled sweetly.

"Just a lie. Well, let us toast."

"Come on now, don't startle me like that..." The moment Guiche said that, the door opened with a bam and a whirlwind flew in.

Guiche was sent flying and tumbled onto the floor.

It was Dante.

"Pardon the intrusion."

"Why are you here?"

"Just passing through."

While saying that, Dante jumped out of Montmorency's bedroom window.

Silence….

"..."

"Wait, what are you doing? Entering someone's room as you please..."

When Montmorency crossed her arms and shouted at Dante as he disappeared out the window, another whirlwind flew into the room. Montmorency was sent flying and struck her nose severely on the floor.

"Louise!"

Guiche yelled. Why, it was Louise who had lost herself in anger.

"Wh-wh-wh, what are you two doing?"

"Shut up! Where's Dante!"

Being pressured by Louise's threatening attitude, Guiche and Montmorency exchanged glances and pointed at the lone bedroom window.

In a low voice, Louise ordered towards the window.

"Dante, come out."

A deadpan voice came through the window, similar to a phone's answering machine.

"Dante is currently now available, please state your message after the beep. Beep."

Louise picked up the wine glass from the table. Montmorency went "Ah!" in a quiet voice, but it was too late. Louise drank it all in one gulp.

"Buhah! I got thirsty from the running. Everything is your entire fault. Fine, I'll be the one to go to you."

Louise goes to the window,

Only to find the devil hunter lazily lying on top of the edge of the castle wall just below the window.

"Prepare yourself... Nna?"

The moment she looked at him and said that, Louise's emotions changed.

Louise had chased Dante around because she couldn't forgive him for giving other girls presents despite having her as his master. If you kiss a girl like Louise, even if it's just on the forehead, it is going to get troublesome.

In other words, it was a problem of pride.

But, the moment she saw Dante just now, her feelings toward Dante jumped straight up. Until then, well, she vaguely liked him. She wouldn't accept it herself, but she liked him. As a big brother of sorts. That was probably why she was so jealous...

Bro-con?

In this moment, she loved with no hamper at all. That emotion was so big, even Louise herself was bewildered. Without thinking, Louise covered her cheeks with her hands.

Oh my... I liked him this much?

I loved him this... this much?

Tears overflowed from Louise's eyes.

Her feelings of sadness were bigger than her feelings of anger. She liked him so much, so why didn't Dante look at her. It was so sad, Louise started to sob.

"Louise?"

Dante suspiciously looked at Louise, whose attitude had completely reversed, and stood up. Guiche was also watching Louise, who had suddenly started crying, with a surprised look.

Montmorency was holding her head and going "Oh no~~". The drug she had intended Guiche to drink had been drunk by Louise.

"Hey, Louise..." Dante quickly returns inside the room to check on her.

Louise looked up at Dante and clung to his chest.

"Idiot!"

"Eh?"

"Idiot, idiot! Why? Why?"

Louise started hitting Dante.

"Louise, you... Just what..."

Even though she was angry like fire up to now, her attitude was completely different. Dante was surprised at the turn of events.

"Why won't you look at me! That's so mean! Uwee~~~~n!"

Louise buried her face in Dante's chest and wept.

／人◕ .◕人＼

We leave the situation as it is for now as we explore...Tabitha's Secret

A few days before, that late morning of the day Louise had been chasing Dante around.

Confusing timeline isn't it?

Kirche and Tabitha sat in the horse drawn carriage. They had travelled from the southeast, from the magic academy. Kirche stretched her head out the window and gasped.

"Tabitha! Check it out! Cows! Cows! Look! There are a lot!"

The ranch was on both sides of the road and cows were grazing.

"They are grazing! Moo, Moomoo!"

However Tabitha didn't respond. She continued to read her book as usual. Feeling bored, Kirche stretched both her arms out.

"Hey, Tabitha. It is a long awaited return home from school, shouldn't you be more happy?"

Since Louise and Dante weren't here because they had been called to the royal palace, when she came to Tabitha's room to play, she was shocked to find her packing her luggage.

"Are you going on a trip?" Kirche asked her.

Tabitha answered that she had to go back home to see her mother.

Though Tabitha was reticent as always, Kirche felt something different in her voice.

So Kirche and Tabitha took the trip together.

Because Tabitha's family sent a coach, they had no need to use her wind dragon. Instead, it circled above them in the sky during the trip carrying Kirche's Salamander on its back.

"Since the school had given us a formal approval for our leave, it won't be counted as an absence and we don't have to worry about having to clean the tower as punishment."

Tabitha continued to look at her book without answering. I've been her friend for more than three years, and I still don't know what she is thinking.

Kirche decided to try and spark a different conversation.

"This is the first time I learned that your motherland isn't Tristain, but Gallia. You are an exchange student?"

They were soon passing the border, Kirche had already asked Principal Osman to sign and issue papers allowing for her safe passage.

Kirche had a vague sense that Tabitha's name was a pseudonym... But she had never asked her about the origin of her name.

Tabitha. It was actually a quite common name. Even the commoners would use better names. It was the kind of name that could be given to cats.

She had always thought that Tabitha was perhaps hiding that she belonged to a distinguished aristocrat family of Tristain, but it appeared she was wrong, she actually belonged to the nobility of the ancient Kingdom of Gallia that bordered with Germania.

The land of Halkeginia was prominent to the ocean and had a gentle arc, creating a giant peninsula. Only the original people of the land knew of the words to describe it.

Gallia was located in the southeast and Germania, Kirche's home country, was in the northeast. Tristain was between the two and its size was equivalent to the Netherlands plus Belgium mentioned in Dante's world.

The territories of these two countries was around ten times the size of Tristain. The people of Tristain called their own motherland the 'small country' in self-ridicule.

On the small peninsula in the south facing the sea, countries like Germania had to fight for local hegemony. The religious country of Romalia was involved in the fight over hegemony; the office of the pope advocated the beliefs of the Founder Brimir and the gods. Incidentally Cardinal Mazarini had come from Romalia.

Towards the east of Halkeginia, there was uncivilized ground where barbarians and demons lived. Further to the east was a vast desert where Elves who could reclaim the barren ground, were protecting the Holy Lands. If we continue east, there was the unknown continent of Rub' al Khali.

Constantly floating above the ocean and the mainland of Halkeginia was the floating continent of Albion. Stricktly speaking, Albion wasn't a part of the mainland of Halkeginia.

Kirche turned to ask Tabitha,

"Why did you study abroad?"

However, Tabitha didn't reply to Kirche's words. She continued to sit and read her book as she had before. Then Kirche suddenly noticed something. The page in her book never changed, it was the same from before. Tabitha had been staring at the same identical page the entire time.

Kirche decided not to ask her again. Whatever her reasons were for studying abroad or returning home, she would wait till Tabitha told her about it by herself. She understood that at that time, when Tabitha was packing her luggage surrounded by the different atmosphere.

Even though they were of different ages they had become friends, and not just because they went to the same school.

To become friends, there are things that the two sides shall not force the other to speak of.

Tabitha who might not open her mouth very often.

And Kirche being concerned as a senior.

Both of them had their own reason for passing through the border and having gone to Tristain.

As they travelled, Kirche recalled the various political situations of the various countries.

Although she had no interest in politics, it has been pounded into her head by both parents and the schools she'd been as well that she needed to be up to date with the current events.

However with the rumors of war floating around she couldn't help but speculate within her mind.

Gallia was still neutral and was staying silent over the invasion of Tristain by Albion. Even though a threat could be felt from the political change in Albion and their new government. A proposal of alliance was made by Tristain but it was rejected. It was very likely that they were going to maintain their neutrality as long as their own territory was safe.

A rumor she had heard however hinted that Gallia was giving rise to the domestic civil strife crisis. With all these internal and external political problems it wasn't easy to imagine the headaches political rulers were facing.

She continued to accompany Tabitha to the Kingdom of Gallia. Although they were travelling as tourists, Kirche had a bad premonition that the possibility of something going wrong was strong.

As she was thinking of this she absent-mindedly stuck her head out the window of the carriage.

A line of pedestrians appeared ahead of the horse drawn carriage. Kirche's attention was grasped by this line of a little less than ten pedestrians. All of them were wearing hooded capes covering their faces.

Kirche noticed that they were all carrying magic wands, they were nobles. Upon another look, the shape of their wands seemed to indicate that they were in fact soldiers. Because it was a time of war, this sort of thing was not unusual.

The horse rushed forward to advance.

Through a gap in the hooded cape, she could see the face of one of the nobles. It was the eyes of a clearly handsome young man. She leaned her head on her hand and sighed.

"A handsome guy, in the place where I am."

After that she noticed it suddenly. I think I know him by sight.

"Where have I seen... Who is he..."

She gazed on at him while he was still in sight, her heat rising then cooling. Her enthusiasm soon left when she could no longer see him, he soon became forgotten.

Kirche moved forward and looked at Tabitha. Her limpid blue eyes hidden behind her glasses stared down at the same page of her book.

Gently putting her hand on Tabitha's shoulder, she said in her usual optimistic voice:

"It doesn't matter. No matter what happens, I will be together with you."

So they continued to travel for two more days till they reached the frontier.

At the border checkpoint the guards read their papers and allowed them to enter through. Here was Gallia. The languages and the cultures of Gallia and Tristain resembled each other. They were also known as "the twin crowns".

When they arrived at the border crossing, the guards approached demanding proof for their trip. Holding huge spears the men opened the doors upon confirming Tabitha's and Kirche's travel permits.

He looked at it and said hesitatingly:

"The road up ahead can't be used anymore, you'll have to make a detour."

"Why, what's going on?"

"Because recently the lake overflowed and several roads are already completely flooded."

The Ragdorian Lake was a big lake that stretched along the border of Gallia and Tristain. It was the place with the most beautiful scenery in Halkeginia and had a big reputation.

After advancing for a while along the road, they finally reached an open place. The road was located at the edge of a small number of gentle hills, and the widening of highways separated from the Ragdorian Lake. On the other side of the shore of the lake was Tristain.

As the guards had said, the water level of the lake seemed certainly to have gone up. Without even being able to see the border of the lake, they could witness that the water had already submerged some of the nearby hills. The flowers and the grass inundated by the water could be seen.

Tabitha closed the book and looked through the window to the outside.

"Is your home near here?"

"Soon."

It was the first time Tabitha had opened her mouth ever since they had gotten in the carriage. However she became silent once again.

Turning onto a mountain road, the horse drawn carriage continued to advance forward to Tabitha's family home. They entered a forest and reached a place where many big oak trees were growing. Farmers were taking a rest in the shaded glade.

Kirche noticed a farmer with a basket of apples and called for the carriage to stop. Then she yelled out to the farmer.

"Those look like some delicious apples, for how much do you sell them to me?"

The farmer took an apple from the basket and passed it to Kirche in exchange for several copper coins.

"There is enough money here to buy the entire basket!"

"Two will be enough."

Kirche took a bite into the apple as the farmer handed the second apple to her. Kirche quickly gave it to Tabitha. She went onto say:

"This apple is really good. What is this piece of land called?"

"The area around Ragdorian is a direct control territory."

"Huh? Direct control territory?"

Territory directly held and managed by the King.

"This land is under direct rule by his highness, and we are now his vassals." The farmer said smiling.

The land was truly fertile and seemed to be something out of a painting with its picturesque beauty. Why the King wanted the land was understandable.

Kirche turned to look at Tabitha.

"This territory is ruled by your family... are you..."

After about ten minutes they could finally see Tabitha's house up ahead. It was an old feudal lord mansion, splendidly built.

Kirche was looking at the carved crest that could be seen at the gate. She was breathless. The emblem was two magic wands intersecting and had the inscription "to advance"

This was the Gallian royal family crest.

However, when approaching, a crack could be seen on the crest. It was a sign of dishonor. Although it meant that this was the royal family, they were stripped of their rights.

The carriage stopped in front of the gates, and an old servant approached, bowed, and opened the door for Tabitha to come out.

"Miss, welcome back."

No other people came and it made Kirche feel as though it was deserted. She got down from the carriage while thinking this. Tabitha and Kirche arrived in the living room with guidance by the old servant.

The room was very neat, however it was strangely quiet, almost appearing spiritless. It looked like a temple preparing for a funeral.

Kirche sat herself down on the living room sofa and said:

"Can we first say hello to your father?"

However Tabitha shook her head.

"Wait here."

She then left the living room.

Kirche sat on the sofa and looked to her right as the old servant approached with wine and dessert and set them before her. But she didn't touch them and instead asked him directly:

"This is her home, and yet it seems besides you no one else lives here."

"I'm the butler of the Orléans family, Percerin. Are you Miss Charlotte's friend?"

Kirche nodded. Charlotte d'Orléans seems to be Tabitha's real name.

Orléans, Orléans, she kept thinking of the name, and then suddenly she thought of something. Orléans, isn't it the family name of the younger brother of the King of Gallia?

"Why is there a dishonor sign on the crest of this house?"

"It appears you are a foreigner, please forgive me, can I ask for your name?"

"I'm Germania's von Zerbst. By the way what on earth is this house? Why has Tabitha gone to study abroad using a fake name? Why when she was just a child?"

The butler listened to Kirche's questions and then sighed.

"The Miss calls herself Tabitha... I see... she has never brought a friend before. Since it's a person to whom she has opened herself, it shouldn't be a problem to tell you the story."

After that Percerin bowed deeply and then continued to talk.

"This residence is in fact a prison."

／人◕ .◕人＼

Tabitha knocked at the door of the deepest room in the residence. There was no answer. It was normal here.

Over the past five years, no one had ever opened the door when it was knocked on. At that time Tabitha was just ten years old.

Tabitha opened the door.

The inside of the room was of a different layout than the rest of the mansion. The only things in the room were a bed, the table, and a chair.

Nothing else.

The cool breeze flowed in through the open window. The curtains rippled as the wind pushed against them. The inside of the room wasn't disturbed by the intrusion.

Holding a doll tightly with her hands. There was a thin and tall woman. What remained of her beautiful face was now gone because of a disease. She was between thirty five and forty years old, but she looked twenty years old.

Or maybe even younger, depending on the observer's perspective.

She peeped at Tabitha with terrified eyes just like a child.

"Who is it?"

Tabitha bowed deeply while approaching the woman.

"I have returned, mother."

However the woman didn't acknowledge Tabitha as her daughter. Not only that, but she also turned coldly to Tabitha and said:

"Go away, you insolent girl! Are you a spy of the royal family? You want to snatch my beautiful daughter Charlotte from my hands? I will never give Charlotte to you!"

Tabitha didn't respond and kept her head bowed.

"How horrible to even pretend that this child would one day aim for the throne...

I have had enough of dirty court life! We just want a quiet life... just leave me now!"

The mother threw the glass of water on the table at Tabitha. Tabitha didn't avoid it. It struck her head and rolled on the floor.

The mother returned to rubbing the doll's face. Part of its face was exposed and revealed the cotton underneath, most likely worn out from all the previous times the mother had rubbed it with her hand.

Tabitha revealed a sad smile, an expression she would only show in this room in front of her mother.

"Your husband has been killed, that's why you are this way; anyhow, I will be leaving now, but I will come back sooner or later. Until that day, please pray for your daughter-doll's safety."

The wind blew into the room through the open windows, shaking the curtains. Even though it was early summer, the wind that blew from the lake was chilly.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Back to the receiving room...

"A victim of a succession fight?" When Kirche asked it, Percerin nodded.

"Yes, it happened five years ago with the death of the King. He left behind two crown princes. The one on the throne now is the eldest son, Joseph. Miss Charlotte's father, the Duke of Orleans, was the second son."

"So she really does belong to the royal family."

"The Duke of Orleans was talented and loved by all and appeared as a qualified ruler in the eyes of the people, even though he had to meet hardships being the second son. Because of this, many people supported the Duke and wanted him to take the throne. The palace was then divided into two factions, launching into an ugly struggle for power.

Finally, the Duke of Orleans was murdered. He was struck in the chest with a poisoned arrow. A person who was nobler than anyone else in this country was killed not by magic, but by a poisoned arrow. The regret and the indignation were unimaginable. However the tragedy was far from over."

Percerin took a deep breath and continued.

"Next those who made Joseph the King started targeting the Miss. They wanted to stamp out the source of any possible future trouble. These people summoned Madame and the Miss to a banquet in their honor. However they had poisoned the Miss' drink. Madame had realized this, and in order to protect the Miss, drank it herself. A magic which breaks one's mind had been cast on the water. Since then, Madame has been insane."

Kirche, shocked and at a loss for words, was listening to the butler's confession.

"Since then, the Miss sealed away her words and expressions. Miss Charlotte originally was lively and bright, a different person than she is now. However it is understandable. Anyone who would witness their mother going mad would become like that.

The others, knowing they had failed and in order to protect themselves, sent a royal order to Miss Charlotte. The task was extremely difficult, no one had been able to accomplish it alive.

However the Miss did complete the task and pledged her loyalty to the royal family, to protect them. But Miss Charlotte was still treated coldly by the royal family. Normally this achievement would have been enough to deserve a territory, but instead she was granted the title of Chevalier and was forced to study abroad.

The Madame stayed here at the house, in the current condition she is in."

Percerin bit his lip with regrets.

"Then...! Whenever the royal family had a difficult task to be done, they asked her to do their dirty work? Her father was killed, her mother was poisoned and driven insane, and she is led and directed by her personal enemies like a beast of burden! I never knew something could be as tragic as this, how people could be so cruel to this level."

Kirche now realized why Tabitha had remained silent. She had never known the reason why she was given the title of Chevalier was for a task she didn't apply for.

On their travels she had remained staring at the same page in her book.

Her runic name was 'Snowstorm'. Cold wind had been blowing inside her heart and it still hadn't ceased. This cold feeling she felt, Kirche thought, was unimaginable.

"Didn't you say that the Miss introduces herself as Tabitha?"

"Yes."

"Madame was a very busy person, however, the young Miss kept an open and bright disposition. The young Miss was in fact quite lonely. Madame had gone into the city and had selected a doll especially for the young Miss during her busy schedule. The Miss was very happy and treated it as though it were a sister. Now the doll is in the hands of Madame. Because of the current state of her mind, she believes the doll to be M'selle Charlotte."

Kirche was startled.

"Tabitha. That is the name the young Miss gave to the doll."

Suddenly the door opened and Tabitha walked in.

The butler bowed, hiding his painful expression and handed her a letter from the royal family.

"These are the instructions from the royal family."

Tabitha removed the seal after receiving the letter and began to read it casually. When she had finished reading it she nodded lightly.

"When do you intend to begin?"

Tabitha answered as if she was just scheduling a stroll.

"Tomorrow."

"Understood, I will convey this to the envoys. I wish you safety on your completion of this task."

The butler bowed solemnly and left the room. Tabitha walked over to Kirche.

"Wait here."

Kirche shook her head.

"Sorry, I heard everything, I'm also coming."

"Dangerous."

"I can't let you go alone."

Tabitha didn't answer. However she lowered her head lightly.

That night the two slept together in the same room. As soon as Tabitha had hit the bed, she had fallen asleep. Kirche was sleepless and lay on the sofa with one hand under the pillow.

Tabitha had explained to Kirche what the task would require of her, and asked Kirche if she would indeed come.

"Although I promised... this certainly will be no ordinary task."

It was very likely that they could die attempting to complete this task. But as a noble, the risk of death had always been in the not so distant future. Compared to that, she was more worried about this child.

What incredible loneliness this child might have endured?

Tabitha was turning over in her bed. With her glasses now gone, her sleeping face was the one of an innocent young girl.

It didn't show that she was shouldering unhappiness that didn't suit her age, the distinguished services that had conferred her the title of Chevalier and the difficult assignment that she had to complete.

"Mother."

Tabitha muttered in her sleep. Kirche's shoulders reacted to the word.

"Mother, please don't drink it. Mother."

Tabitha called for her mother many times while sleeping. Her forehead constantly kept sweating with more intensity after each call.

Kirche gently stood up, laid on the bed next to Tabitha, embracing her closely. Tabitha buried her head in Kirche's chest. Her heartbeat passed on to Tabitha as they lay there, it might have felt like a mother's.

Tabitha soon became calm again, her night sweat leaving her.

As for Kirche, she thought that she somehow understood the reason why Tabitha treated her as a friend. Her heart hadn't been totally frozen, some warmth still remained within it. Only that the ice wind that flowed blocked it. She might have felt that the fire inside Kirche could melt it.

Kirche, while slowly falling asleep, said in a gentle manner:

"Hey Charlotte. The 'Ardent' warms and melts everything, so you can rest at ease."

／人◕ .◕人＼

Well, we leave this two for a while as we take a look at the strength of a Love Potion

When Dante woke up in the morning, Louise was sleeping by his side. The previous night, when Louise, whose eyes were swollen from tears, got tired, he brought her to the room and fell asleep at once. "Kuukuu," with an innocent face, she breathed out through sleep.

'What made her change this way yesterday? One moment she was ready to kill, the other - she was suddenly weeping "Why don't you look at me!" What? What?' Dante wondered.

She started waking up. Abruptly, Louise got up and, noticing Dante, bit her lip. Then in a wrung out voice, she murmured "Good morning."

"G-good morning," Dante returned the greeting.

Then Louise blushed. Louise always blushed with an angry look on her face, but now it was different. Looking up at Dante, she softly curved her lips and said something hesitatingly.

"W-what?"

"Forgive me."

Louise opened her mouth and said in a lamenting voice.

"Forgivemeforgivemeforgiveme. Forgive me?"

Louise was definitely weird. She gazed at him with helpless puppy eyes, yet she had never looked at Dante this way before. Louise always looked down on him or scowled, he wasn't used to being looked at some other away.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

Worried, he gripped her shoulder. Dressed only in negligee, Louise bent her head and rested her cheek on top of his hand. He felt an unexpected pang. Moreover, a pang on his left side. A quick one. Soon he was fully overtaken by a destructive power. His eyes narrowed at the realization.

'Wait, with Louise looking like this… She wouldn't be in love with me, would she?'

"I saw."

"Eh?"

"..a dream, yesterday."

'Dream?'

"What dream?"

"A Dream about Dante."

"D-dream about what?"

"Dante was mean in the dream. Though I was talking very hard, he still spoke with other girls."

'Gab' Louise bit into Dante's hand.

However, it was not painful. Louise bit very gently. Then she glanced upwards at Dante's face.

'A Love Bite? Is she serious?'

"Even so, it was yesterday. Do not buy gifts for other girls, do not look at other girls - you have your master, right?"

Dante gulped down saliva, while watching Louise. It appeared that she was so in love with him...

'But what made Louise's attitude change so much. It's as if she is an entirely different person. The bipolar Louise who, cannot become so sweet just like that. At first she was mad, and now she gently chewed on his palm while scowling.'

She would not just bite like this. She would hit.

Louise would never sell herself for such flirt...

Though at first Dante thought that Louise may be in love, he drove the last ray of hope out of his mind.

"Listen to me."

"Y-yes."

"Tell me truthfully. W-whom do you love the most in the world?"

Louise buried her face in his chest and muttered in a tearful voice. Dante felt dizzy in his head and answered incoherently.

"M-master. Yes."

"Lies."

It wasn't a lie. He treasured her like a daughter, though he has no idea how to show it. However, Louise today...

"Really?"

"Yeah..."

Then Louise got up and, tototo, ran up to the other side of the bed.

After taking out something from the secret gap in the wall beside the bed, she ran up to Dante with it.

"N. N, nh"

And then she thrust it out to Dante.

"What's...?"

"Take it."

The thrust out complex object was made from knitting wool. In any case, it seemed to be unwearable. Dante received it and tilted his head, trying to figure out it's purpose. By any means, could it still be something "to wear"? No, never. He had no inkling of where it could fit on the body.

Louise kept on quietly watching Dante... with eyes that seemed to be moist from crying. Aah, can't help it when looked at with such eyes. They had an expecting look. Yet, he couldn't answer Louise's expectations as he didn't know what on earth it was for, however, he had to do something!

What the heck is that. Dante thought. Think! Yeaaah, looking at it, it seems similar to medusa stuffed toy. It also can be thought to be one of Burgess fauna's species that ruled the sea in the ancient earth. Though it looks like a mysterious animal, because Louise handed it over to me, it must have some use. Ah! Think!

Dante fused, slowly losing his cool.

"Great! This! A fantastic thing! Medusa's outlook! The best!"

Louise's face fell.

"It's different... It's not that... It's a sweater."

As for the alien world sweater, it was different from what one would expect. It easily surpassed Dante's imagination.

In panic, Dante tried to put it on. But how to wear it? Somehow he found an entrance and pushed his head in. However, his arm didn't go out and half of his face remained stuck inside. Being stuck in such an uncomfortable way, Dante stood still.

Then, Louise tightly embraced Dante and pushed him down onto the bed.

"L-Louise..."

Because his arm was imprisoned by the sweater, he could not move.

"Be still," Louise pleaded with Dante. What? I'm already still. But it is because I can't get out my arms out of the sweater.

"Can't do that."

He said quietly, being honest.

Louise held onto Dante firmly, like a girl embracing her favorite stuffed animal.

"Ugh, don't you have to go to class?"

"It's alright. I'll just skip it anyway."

Muhaa! The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it sounded. Normally serious Louise never skipped class so lightly.

"For a whole day. Because, when you are let out, you flirt with other girls. I hate that."

Seems like she wanted to bind Dante this way. Yet, for a very prideful Louise to say such things… Even if she would be feeling this way, she'd never utter it aloud.

"Say something."

Louise muttered sweetly. Dante, what is the matter with Louise? He wondered, while worrying, what made Louise start talking so weakly and softly.

In the afternoon, Louise finally fell asleep. The young girl snored faintly in a deep slumber.

Then Dante quietly slipped out of the room and headed to the dining room to get some food. He was going to take Louise's share too.

Siesta, who was preparing lunch in the kitchen already, sweetly smiled when he finished explaining the situation to her.

"You are popular."

"No, it's different. Louise isn't herself. She's acting funny. It can't be helped, and now I have to get some of this food…"

Worried, Dante said, while Siesta trampled on Dante's feet, without breaking her smile.

"That's great."

"S-Siesta?"

Seems like she was really mad. The composed smile only emphasized her cold anger.

"Heeeh. That a highly prideful noble Miss Vallière would suddenly become clingy over Dante-san. What would make her change her mind about Dante-san? I'm worried."

Still smiling, Siesta put more strength into crushing Dante's foot. Dante screamed.

"I-it's true! She really suddenly started acting strange"

"Really?"

"Yeah… It is as if she turned into a different person."

Hearing that, Siesta started to think with a serious expression.

"This reminds me, I heard that there are some magical potions that can change a person's mind this way…"

"Magical potions?"

"Indeed. Yet because I am not a mage I might have not understood it well... But, Miss Vallière would not drink such a thing…"

Dante remembered the previous night. Louise's attitude changed dramatically after entering Montmorency's room… while he was hiding under the bed futon.

At that moment Louise's attitude changed suddenly… Did Louise do something then?

Ah.

That reminds me, she said "Fuah! I'm thirsty from running around!" and in one breath drank up the red wine on the table!

That? Could it be that? Dante started to feel suspicious about the red wine in Montmorency's room.

Dante waited for Montmorency to come out of the dining room and gripped her arm. Guiche, who was walking next to her, roared.

"Hey! What are you doing to my Montmorency!"

However, Montmorency's face suddenly turned pale instead of complaining. What? Even though he gripped a noble's arm like that! Guess Montmorency, who was even more arrogant than Louise, did not want to make much noise. In a word, she felt indebted to Dante over something and that was surely related to Louise's sudden change.

"Hey Monmon."

Dante glared at Montmorency.

"W-what…?"

She awkwardly turned her eyes away. She was not angry at being called Monmon. It was becoming more and more suspicious.

"What did you make Louise drink?"

"Eh?" Guiche made a suspicious face.

"Montmorency gave Louise something?"

"Hey Guiche. You saw Louise's change, right? One moment she was angry, the next placing her palms gently. Even someone as dimwitted as you should grow suspicious."

Guiche thought while crossing his arms. It took some time, because he was slow as usual. Then Guiche, who with great effort recalled the previous night's events, nodded.

"It is really as you say. It should not be possible for Louise to become so soft suddenly. Right?"

"Right! Monmon! Louise became strange after drinking the wine in your room!"

"That's the wine I brought! There's nothing suspicious about it!"

After saying so, Guiche noticed Montmorency's unusual behavior. She was biting her lips strongly and tiny drops of cold sweat appeared on her forehead.

"Montmorency! That wine, really…"

"That child drank it without permission!"

Montmorency cried out, unable to take it anymore.

"That's not the point! It's your fault!" She said while pointing at Guiche, poking his nose with her finger. Now with the anger reversed, Guiche and Dante dumbfoundedly watched Montmorency.

"Because you are always fooling around!"

"You! What have you put in the wine?"

Dante understood. Montmorency wanted Guiche to drink up something that was put in the wine. Yet Louise, who rushed into the room, drank it up instead.

For a moment, both, Guiche and Dante, stood hesitatingly embarrassed and resigned. Then Montmorency in a calm, bared voice said.

"…Love potion."

"Love potion!"

Guiche and Dante cried out. Montmorency placed both hands over their mouths in panic.

"Idiots! Not so loud! …It is banned."

Dante gripped Montmorency's arm, removed her hand from his mouth and shouted.

"Then don't start such a mess to begin with! Help Louise somehow!"

Montmorency, Dante and Guiche racked their brains in Montmorency's room. Montmorency explained to them both in an arrogant manner that she made a love potion to prevent Guiche from having an affair. She put it in Guiche's glass to have him drink it, but then Dante and Louise had flounced into the room. It wasn't hard for Dante to imagine what happened after that. Unaware, Louise drank it all up. Dante screamed.

"What have you done?"

"…However, otherwise she would not have fallen in love with me, right?"

Guiche, who kept silent till then, clasped a blushing Montmorency's hand.

"Montmorency, you cared so much for me…"

"Hah! You think that I did it for you? I would not waste my time on that. It was just merely unpleasant for you to have affairs behind my back!"

The blush on Montmerency's cheeks was quickly replaced by an arrogant scowl. As expected, the pride of Tristainian noble women was really high. Very self-conceited and arrogant.

"Do not worry about me having an affair! I am your servant forever!"

Guiche embraced Montmorency closely. Then, holding her cheek, tried to kiss her. Startled Montmorency shut her eyes.

"Knock it off."

Dante pulled them both apart.

"What are you doing, idiot?"

"Doesn't matter! Help Louise first!"

"She'll recover sooner or later!"

"When is this 'sooner or later'!"

Montmorency looked doubtful.

"Each person's physiology is different, it may take a month or maybe a year…"

"You planned to let me drink such a thing?"

Guiche turned pale.

"That will take too long. At once! One way or another! Do it!"

With a jerk Dante brought his face close to Montmorency's.

"I understand! But it will take some time to prepare the antidote!"

"Hurry up then and do it! Now! Make it now!"

"However, to make an antidote a certain expensive drug is necessary, but I used it all up while making the love potion and it is very expensive. I can't do it for the time being."

"Yes, money will be hard to come by, I don't exaggerate."

"No money? You are nobles!"

When Dante shouted, Guiche and Montmorency looked at each other.

"Although we are nobles, we are students as well."

"It is older members of the family that possess the territory and money."

"Then ask your parents to send the money."

Dante said to them both. Then Guiche raised his forefinger and started talking.

"Listen. This world has two kinds of nobles. One kind are nobles that do not have the good fortune of money, another kind – nobles that have the money. For instance, de Montmorency. Montmorency's family, fails in the land reclamation and the management of the territory is horrible."

Montmorency cut in.

"Or like the de Gramont house, Guiche's family, that for the sake of honour got involved in a war and wasted all of their money…"

"Anyway, there are moneyless nobles. Actually, and I am not exaggerating, half the nobles in the world have enough money only to maintain their residence and the territory around it at best. However, it is not for a commoner like you to understand the hardships of keeping the honour and pride of the nobility."

These guys… Dante reluctantly started to search for something in his coat and jeans pockets. Then he pulled out the golden coins that he received from Henrietta before. Half of the amount he left in Louise's room and the other half he carried with himself.

"Will this suffice?"

He spilled them out on the table.

"Uwaa! Why do you have so much money? You!"

Seeing that amount of gold lying all over the table took Montmorency's breath away.

"Awesome, and some are even 500 écu coins."

"Don't ask where it comes from. Just buy that expensive medicine with this by the end of tomorrow."

Montmorency nodded reluctantly.

When he returned to his room with light pockets, the room itself looked weird.

Somehow the whole room was filled with cigarette-like smokes, yet the aroma was sweet. Louise was sitting in the center of the room with joss-sticks fuming around her.

"Hey, what? What's up with all this?"

When Dante said so, Louise, who was watching him, answered in a teary voice.

"Where have you been...?"

Only then Dante noticed how tempting Louise looked. She wasn't wearing her skirt.

"You left me all alone…"

She said in teary voice while sulkily looking up at Dante. It seemed like, while feeling lonely, she started burning all these incenses.

"So-sorry…"

Why doesn't she put on a skirt? He tried to turn his eyes away from her body when he noticed another unexpected fact. Well… Lo-Louise, Louise Françoise – that rascal, the skirt wasn't the only thing that she missed… Her panties are gone as well.

Her lower waist line was peeking up from the gap of her shirt. There were no signs of any underwear beneath.

Dante began to tremble.

"Y-you, p-put on some p-p-p-p-panties!"

Trembling, he shouted while looking to the other side.

"I w-won't!"

"Why not?"

"I am not sexy enough. I know this because night after night Dante sleeps by my side in bed, but doesn't do anything to me. I cannot take this anymore."

Louise said in a weeping voice.

"T-that's, you, me, are you saying you want me to p-push you down and then d-d-d-d-do those things to you?"

"I-is it bad…?"

"That's right."

"But, I'll shut my eyes and for an hour, I will pretend not to know."

But by saying that she would pretend not to know… Louise made a huge commitment.

Louise pulled the hem of her shirt down to cover her private parts and stood up. Louise moved her bare, slender legs. Dante's heart pounded inside his chest, sounding like a constant ringing of a bell.

Louise jumped onto Dante's chest. The sweet smell of her hair was even stronger than the aroma of the incense in the room. She never used perfumes, it was her natural body's smell.

'Curse you enhanced senses.'

With her face buried in Dante's jacket, Louise trembled and twitched.

"I am lonely… Idiot…"

Both of Dante's hands positioned themselves on Louise's body.

They seemed to embrace her firmly on an instinct.

Dante bit his lip. He put some pressure in his bite seeking to regain part of his calmness through pain.

'Louise of today… is not the Louise whom I know. It is a love potion that's making me lose myself. My Louise is the one I protect and like…as family.'

Because of familial love, this cannot be allowed to continue.

Dante with trembling hands gripped Louise's shoulders. Then he looked straight into her eyes and squeezed out as gentle a voice as possible.

"Louise…"

"Dante…"

"W-well… You are acting this strange today because of a medicine."

"Medicine…?"

Louise looked up at Dante with moistened eyes.

"That's right. The present you is not the real you. But don't worry, I will find the cure somehow. Okay?"

"It is not because of medicine!"

Louise looked straight at Dante.

"These feelings are not because of medicine. Because whenever I look at Dante my heart starts beating wildly. Not only that…I cannot breathe and feel helpless. I know, this feeling is…"

"I-it's different. I would like it if they were your real feelings, but it isn't, it is different. This is because of the drug. The antidote will be ready by tomorrow night, so wait till then. Anyway, go to sleep now, okay?"

Louise shook her head.

"I don't understand. It doesn't matter. Anyway, you must hug me tightly or else I won't go to sleep."

"If I do, you'll go to bed?"

Louise nodded. Dante carried her to the bed. Then laid down, snuggling next to her. As usual, Louise clung firmly to him.

"Don't go anywhere. Look only at me, no other girls, only me."

She repeated, as if some kind of spell.

Dante nodded.

"I won't go anywhere. I'll stay here for a long time."

"Really?"

"Aah. Yes, so rest, ok?"

"Un… If Dante says to sleep, I will sleep. Because I don't want him to dislike me."

However, Louise didn't go to sleep. Instead, she shuffled a little and brought her blushing face to the scruff of Dante's neck. Before Dante could even think of what she was doing, she started to kiss his neck. It felt as if a torrent of small needles ran down his spine.

"Haaaaaaaaaaah..."

Dante began to get really worried here, as he quickly began to formulate a plan of escape.

Meanwhile Louise started to suck strongly on Dante's skin.

"Wait a minute here! Louise!"

'If you don't stop I'll ... '

However, Louise didn't stop. With flushing cheeks she watched the place that she just kissed.

It reddened as if bitten by an insect.

Noticing this, Louise proceeded leaving marks on Dante's skin with an absorbed interest.

"Louise, stop! I already! I! Wait!"

His mind could not take it anymore with the confusion. When Louise separated her lips, she muttered in a sulky way.

"No. I won't stop. Dante is mine and mine alone. Therefore, I will leave marks to show that he is mine and keep the other girls away."

After that, Dante's torture continued for a while. Louise started to leave hickey marks not only on the scurf of his neck but even on his chest too. By the end, there were more than ten of them.

Dante just remained calm afterwards letting the mini-mage do what she wanted, sighed with relief as Louise still has no idea what to do next.

When Louise's lips finally left his chest. Then Louise, turned her head to the side, presenting Dante her own neck.

"Now you mark me."

"Wait….What!…"

Dante looked at Louise's slender, snowy white neck.

"If you don't do this - I won't go to sleep."

There was no other way.

Dante closed his eyes and brought his lips to Louise's neck. He touched it. A deep sigh escaped Louise's lips. Never hearing such a cute sigh from her,

Dante cussed at his luck.

Gently, he sucked on Louise's celadon skin. Combined with an incubus magic skill, and a simple knockout nerve point press, just to put the lovesick girl to sleep….

"Nh…!"

Louise must have been nervous too, as giving out such a cry seemed to confirm, and something else happens…

'What the… Did she just have an orgasm, now?' he deadpanned in his thoughts…

Tiredness soon took over her and Louise started to breath in a faint sleeper's way after a while.

Completely beyond annoyance, he looked at his own red mark on Louise's nape of the neck. It looked like a red strawberry in the middle of white snow.

Dante sighed, he had to restrain himself many times, or else, he would have attacked Louise who was peacefully sleeping next to him.

'Calm down! Louise is acting this way only because of the potion! Plus, I'm no loli…'

He had to find the antidote quickly, to return Louise back to her usual saucy self, instead of this cute one!

Which he found extremely unnatural.

Then Dante noticed something that Louise was grasping tightly in her sleep.

It was the pendant that Dante bought her in town. She was grasping it tightly as if it were some sort of treasure. Seeing that lovely view he lost all his strength.

It was cruel. Louise was horrible. It's a crime to look so disturbingly cute.

Watching Louise's sleeping face, he started to think… why return back to his former world, if you can stay here?

When Louise became a court lady of Henrietta, it became difficult to travel to the east… Though he was disappointed, at the same time he felt glad. Because of that he could stay by Louise's side.

Aah, Earth, Siesta and Louise. Those three turned round and round in Dante's head, making him frustrated.

Which choice should I make? He could not make a choice today, but he would have to.

Maybe, in the near future.

／人◕ .◕人＼

In the evening the next day, Dante was in Montmorency's room. He had a quarrel with Louise before leaving her in her room and coming here…

"You can't make an antidote?"

With his face lifted, Dante stared at Montmorency. Beside her sat Guiche holding his chin and scowling. Montmorency and Guiche had gone into the city that day to face the black-market traders in the hopes of finding the antidote, however...

"It can't be helped! It was sold out!"

"Then when can you buy it?"

"It… seems like they do not have the goods needed."

"What is it?"

"The specific medicine comes from Ragdorian Lake, at the boarder with Gallia. It is made from the tears of a water spirit… however it seems they were not able to contact the water spirits recently."

"Whaat?"

"In other words, we cannot get this special medicine."

"Then what about Louise?"

"Well, I mean, really, what is so bad about all this? She has fallen in love with you. You like Louise, do you not?"

Dante brought a heavy fist down on Guiche .

"Not that way you are imagining, you obstinate fool."

"But…" Montmorency pouted her lips and Guiche shook his head reluctantly.

Even Dante thought quietly for a while, until he finally grasped his hand into a fist, determined.

"Where is that water spirit?"

"I told you already, it's at the Ragdorian lake."

"So you only need to get in touch with her, right?"

"Eeeeeh! Now listen here! The water spirit rarely shows her face before humans! And even if she did, she is very strong! If angered, the results can be disastrous!"

"I don't care, let's go!"

"Well I do care! I am absolutely not going!"

Dante crossed his arms.

"Well then, there's only one thing I can do. I will have to tell Her Royal Highness the Princess about the love potion, or is it Her Royal Highness the Queen now? Anyway, I will have to ask for her help about the problem."

Dante pauses for a moment, and then continued.

"Come to think, wasn't that potion banned? It's not supposed to be allowed to be made, right? Now then, I wonder what would Her Highness do if she learned about it?"

Montmorency's face quickly turned pale.

"And besides that, I knew of other ways to make people see my way." Dante grins as bright lights surrounded them.

The group then found themselves in a surrounded with an array of torture devices they had only heard of, some were beyond their imagination.

From the classic whip to the wooden horse, it looked more like an S & M stuff that could only be speculated to be fictional.

Dante now begin glowing with eldritch energy as he strode with heavy steps to a certain rack…

Not only Montmorency's face turns white as sheet with fear, Guiche now joins the girl into a cowering fit.

"Choose your poison," Dante sweetly offers as he suddenly gained hold of a long barbed whip, all the while smiling peacefully.

*CRACK!*

The whiplash sounded as Dante deftly flicks the said thing over the couple's heads…

"EEEEEKKKK!" Both squeaked….

Guiche took the few seconds of peace to say…

"W-What do you think, Monmon?"

"F- Fine, already! I understand! I will go, if you go!"

she half-screamed,

"Hmm, we can't let Louise stay this way, either. Or else others may notice her strange behaviour and suspect the love potion."

Guiche shook his head.

"Fear not, my lover. I will stay by your side on this journey," said Guiche while leaning in and trying to slowly put his hand over Montmorency's shoulders, but she quickly evaded him.

"That's not really inspiring. You are too weak."

She had never seen him fight competently before.

Guiche just grins and shrugs.

After that, the trio made arrangements for the journey.

They would leave the following day, early in the morning. Because they did not know how Louise might act if left alone, they decided to bring her along as well.

"Haah, this is my first time skipping school." Montmorency sighed.

"You brought it on yourself in the first place…" Dante deadpans, preparing to summon the Sleipnir.

"And what about me, as I have not been going to school for half of a year now? After Dante came, it was adventures everyday! Ahahaha!" Guiche burst into a hearty laughter.

More like tortures and torments for the blond kid everyday.

Dante facepalms himself once more…

"Great, just great…" he declared, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Author's rant

Seems like I'll be busier by this month…sorry if the updates might be a lot slower for a time…

And since this fic seemed a rather uninteresting read to the readers…I'm currently contemplating again…

Please review…

See you guys soon… I hope… XD


	22. Mission 22: The Water Spirit's Quest

Question: how original are you gonna get when making a fanfic ripoff?

Answer: It doesn't matter, As long as you have fun writing and those who read have fun as well. As long as no royalties are made, I believe it's safe.

Disclaimer: Neither the Familiar of Zero nor Devil May Cry belong to me.

Let's try to return to the main plot shall we?

Too depressed at work so I just made this one on the fly for a laugh...

Let's Begin,

Mission 22 : The Water Spirit's Quest

／人◕ .◕人＼

Fantasy Fic: A figure stands on top of the Tristain Royal Palace tower whose face is hidden under the hood, in a sword drawing stance with Yamato on its hand, with the two moons rising behind it; the said figure is wearing Vergil's DMC3 blue long coat in tatters. He faces a group of figures off picture; the shadows that they cast surround the hooded one. …I wonder who this one is?

／人◕ .◕人＼

From the pages of a confiscated scroll said to have come from a forbidden text…

_"The twelve constellations will herald the coming of the creator."_

／人◕ .◕人＼

"Only a few people actually knew this particular piece of information, as most people merely regarded the figure of the Legendary Dark Knight as a myth. But in truth, he is one of the key factors why Brimierre and his familiars, along with the elves, won the battles against the True Enemy, for the reclamation of Halkegenia's freedom, as generally known to the public."

A cloaked figure talks drunkenly to a couple of mercenaries in a certain tavern…

His face was hidden beneath the heavy hood, and continued to talk after taking a swig from his huge beer mug.

While looking at his sword, so unlike the regular broadswords in Halkeginia, this one looks like a single edged curved longsword, ornamented by a dragon embossed on the blade...he spoke once more,

"Due to the dangerous nature of the true enemy, one of the allies of Halkeginia, made a supreme sacrifice…"

"How do you know of this?" One of the mercenaries asked the heavily clothed man...

"I was th...I mean, I just heard it from a VERY reliable source..."

"Tell us more..." they urged the hooded stranger, who looked rather small for a man of his supposed age...

／人◕ .◕人＼

Let's leave the conversing group for now and try to see the main characters on the progress with their quest,

Now we follow the gang as they try to find the solution to this travesty that is Louise…in love?

／人◕ .◕人＼

The hills and mountains overlooked the dark blue waves of Ragdorian Lake as they rippled. The sun's illumination on the lake was spread like a layer of shimmering glass.

Dante and others arrived at the lake by horse.

Well, Dante and Louise rode an 'Iron Horse' Sleipnir...

Because Louise disliked riding alone, she and Dante took the same ride.

She sat in front.

It seemed like she didn't want to leave Dante's side even for a single moment.

Montmorency and Guiche were riding on separate splendid grey horses.

"This must be the famous Ragdorian lake! No, the beauty of this lake is indescribable! The Water Spirit is in there! I'm impressed! HO-HO-HO – YAHOO!"

Yelled Guiche, whipping the horse and sending it plunging down the hill.

Unfortunately, the horse was afraid of the water and when it reached the shore it came to an abrupt stop.

Following the law of inertia, Guiche was flung off the horse and, with a thunderous crash, fell head first into the lake.

'I give that performance a Ten out of Ten points for sheer stupidity…' Dante rated,

"Can't reach the ground! It's deep! Deeeeeeep!"

'Yep…stupidity…' Dante summed it up as he watched hit protégé struggle in the water.

Half-shin deep of water…

Guiche desperately cried out for help while struggling in the water.

It seemed that Guiche did not know how to swim.

"I wonder if we should reconsider our fellowship after all?" Montmorency muttered.

'Fellowship? What fellowship?' Dante thought, but spoke aloud

"That would be nice..."

Dante nodded. Louise looked up at Dante with a worried face.

"Montmorency is nice?"

"No, I don't mean that way. Never mind, just wait, I will return you to your original self."

Dante brought the motorcycle close to the shore, and cuts the engine silent.

Guiche, after a long struggle, was shivering and soaked from head to toe as he finally reached the shore. He had a bitter look on his face.

"Hey hey, shouldn't you help me? Do not desert someone who cannot swim…OW!"

A fist hits the blond boy right on the top of his head.

"Idiot, do you have to swim in shin-deep water?" Dante berates with visible annoyance.

'Oops, I think I better stop hitting this kid on the head. It seems to lessen what intelligence he has left…' Dante reflects,

However, Montmorency completely ignored Guiche and was instead looking at the lake suspiciously.

"What is it?" Dante asked.

"Strange."

"What's strange?"

"The water level is up. Ragdorian's shore should be further up there."

"Is that so?" Dante asked, looking around at the place and tries to look for a bunch of things that should not be seen on a lake, such as...

"Yes. Look over there. There is a rooftop sticking out. It seems that village has been flooded."

Yep, that would be one of them...

Following Montmorency's gaze, the rest of the party could indeed see the roof.

Dante could even recognize the dark shadow of the sunken house under the limpid surface of the water upon further observation.

Montmorency walked up to the shore, dipped her finger into the water and closed her eyes. After a while she stood back up with a worried expression on her face.

"It seems as if the Water Spirit is angry."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I am a Water-element user, Montmorency the Fragrance. The Tristain Royal family is connected with the Ragdorian lake Water Spirit by an old oath. The Montmorency 'Water' family has been negotiating with it for many generations.

"And now?"

"And now, for various reasons, other nobles are doing it."

"Then, have you seen the Water Spirit?"

"Only once when I was small. When we needed to create a drainage for the territory, the family sought the Water Spirit's cooperation. A big glass container was made to transport it. However, because the Water Spirit has a lot of pride, it can be extremely aggressive. In fact, it is because of their aggressiveness that my family's drainage scheme failed. My father said to the Water Spirit 'Do not walk. The floor gets wet'…"

'It's not that the Water Spirit is aggressive. I was your father's fault it ended in failure. You have one stupid father, Monmon.' Dante thought as he looked at Montmorency with pity,

This doesn't escape the extremely observant eye of Louise.

"Hey, quit looking at her that way!"

"Ow!" Dante cringed in temporary pain as Louise kicked the devil hunter in the shin.

"What was that for?"

Louise suddenly rushed at Dante and hugs him tightly at his waist. Crying a torrent of tears, she cried,

"Please forgive me, I-I just want you to just look at me, and me alone."

Dante sighed once more at the how Louise is acting up,

The sentient sword remained silent throughout the tirade as the night before, Derflinger tried to make a snide comment, only to face Dante's even darker rage...

That aside, Dante asked the young protégé to be,

"Hey, what does the Water Spirit look like?"

Dante continued to scan the lake, showing curiosity.

"I have never actually seen it."

Guiche, flapping his wet shirt that he had taken off, nodded in agreement. Louise, who had absolutely no interest in the discussion, hid herself behind Dante's back and unconsciously held on tightly to the hem of his longcoat.

"Beautiful! Quite so…"

At that moment, an old lonesome farmer who was hiding behind a tree stepped out.

"I suppose, my lords, you are nobles."

A middle aged farmer looked up with an embarrassed face.

"Only these kids are," Dante points out.

"What's the matter?" Montmorency asked.

"My lords, did you come to negotiate with the Water Spirit? If so, then we have been saved! Please, quickly make your negotiations and solve this flood problem."

The party looked at each other. It seemed like this farmer was a resident of the village that sank into the lake.

"That, well, we... came here just to see the lake."

Surely, Montmorency could not tell him that they came here to get the Water Spirit's tear.

"I see… Really, lords and the queen are now only interested in the war against the Albion, not even noticing such remote villages as ours. They can't even imagine how hard it is to collect the harvest…"

"Haa," the farmer sigh deeply.

"What on Halkeginia happened to the Ragdorian lake?"

"The water started to rise about two years ago. The water level increased slowly, flooding the port first, then the temple and fields... See? Now even the eagles' nests are flooded. The local lords that are responsible for this territory indulge in royal court entertainments and pay no attention to our pleas."

The old farmer wept bitterly.

"For years we lived on this land, depending on the moody Water Spirit. Honestly, it's good when it stays at the bottom of the lake... We really want to understand why it has suddenly become interested in our land. Because this land belongs to men! But, only a noble could communicate with it. I'd like to know what we poor farmers did to make it lose its temper."

The rest of the Nobles present, besides Dante and the love struck Louise, bent their heads in embarrassment.

After the farmer finished grumbling and left, Montmorency took something out of the bag attached to her waist.

It was a tiny frog. It was bright yellow with many black spots.

Her familiar...

The thing reminded Dante of a certain frog he read back on earth which was used to make poisoned arrows...

Montmorency put the frog in the palm of her hand; it stared up to her inquisitvely.

"FROG!"

Louise, who was afraid of frogs, screamed and drew closer to Dante.

So much that she forgot how scary Dante actually could get.

"What is with this poisonously colored frog?" Dante asked,

"It is not poisonous, I tell you! It is my dear familiar!"

Apparently, this tiny frog was Montmorency's familiar. Montmorency raised her finger, and ordered to her familiar.

"Listen Robin, I want to contact an old friend of yours."

Then Montmorency reached in her pocket and took out a needle, in one brief moment she stuck her finger with it allowing a ruby of bright red blood to gush. Turning her finger over, she let a drop fall on the frog.

After that, Montmorency cast a spell, treating the wound on the tip of her finger. Then she brought the frog close again.

"Since she knows who I am, she should know who you are. Robin, please, in the name of the great spirits of the dead, seek the old Water Spirit, and tell her I wish to speak with her because of our alliance. Do it for me, understood?"

The frog slightly nodded and disappeared into the water with a splash.

"Now, Robin went to call the Water Spirit. If she can find it, she is likely to bring it here."

Dante looked doubtful as he looked over the water's surface.

"When it comes, what are we gonna do? Tell it sad stories or something?"

"Sad story? What are you talking about?"

"We need tears of the Water Spirit right? How else would we get it if not making it cry?"

"Seriously." Monmorency tries to say something rather insulting to Dante but instead faces the devil hunter's stern gaze,

"U-Um, the Tear of the Water Spirit is only a name. It doesn't really shed tears."

Montmorency stutterers as she explained,

Dante and Guiche looked at each other.

Louise, lonely without Dante's attention, 'rub-rub' rubbed her cheek against his back.

It was a really weird scene! Though any other guy could die from such a cute Louise, all that mattered now was Montmorency's story.

"Then, what is the tear of the Water Spirit?" Guiche asked.

"The Water Spirit... compared to human lifespans, it can live a long, long, long time. It is said to have existed 6,000 years ago, when the Founder Brimir established Halkeginia. Its body, like water, can freely change its shape... and in a sunshine it glistens with seven colors…"

The moment Montmorency said this, the surface of the water began to shine.

The Water Spirit appeared.

30 meters away from the shore where Dante and others were standing the water was shining.

The surface of the water was wriggling non-stop. Then the water welled up like a rising cake. Dante watched it with an expression of boredom.

The water was constantly changing shape so one could not even see hands. It looked like a huge amoeba. Though its flashing lights were beautiful... it also made the rest of the party uncomfortable.

The frog, Montmorency's familiar, hopped back to its master with a splash. Montmorency held out her palm and caught the frog.

She patted the frog's head with her finger.

"Thank you for helping to call it."

Then Montmorency stood up, spread her hands towards the Water Spirit, and opened her mouth.

"I am a Montmorency Margarita La Fère de Montmorency. User of water, member of the lineage of old oath. I have put my blood on the frog to help you remember. If you remember, answer in the way and words that we understand."

The Water Spirit... rising out of the surface of the water... started slowly to gain shape like a clay figure.

Dante showed no signs of surprise when watching this. Since he's seen worse…

The mass of water slowly shaped itself into Montmorency's form and faintly smiled.

However, it was bigger and had no clothes. It looked like a transparent nude Montmorency.

Just like an ice statue.

The Water Spirit's expression changed into various forms. After the smile followed angry, then - crying faces. Each time she tried a new expression, the lump face of water moved.

Indeed, she looked beautiful. Like an ever-changing jewel.

Then her face became expressionless again as the Water Spirit answered Montmorency's question.

"I remember, mere human. I remember the liquid that flows in your body. The moon has changed 52 times since our last meeting."

"I'm glad. Water Spirit, I need to ask you something. Although it might seem somewhat insensitive, could you give me a piece of your body?"

'Part of its body?' Dante wondered. 'That sounded kinda wrong…'

"Hey wait a sec, I thought we're looking for its tears." When he poked Montmorency, she turned around annoyed, then scared as she saw Dante's eyes glow threateningly red.

"A-although it is a tear, it is impossible to make immortal spirits cry. They are... different from us. I do not even know if one can call them living beings. Either way the tear of the Water Spirit is a part of its body."

"So we have to cut down its body?"

Dante grinned as he asked.

"Shh! Not so loud! The Water Spirit can get very angry! That's why it is nearly impossible to obtain the tear. How the people in the city's black market are able to get it… I simply cannot imagine."

The Water Spirit smiled.

"Oh, it smiled! It must mean it is alright!" Guiche gushed

But, the words that came from its mouth... maybe because it still didn't understand how to to speak properly, were completely opposite.

"I refuse, mere human."

"Is that so? How unfortunate. Oh well, we'll be heading back now."

Montmorency then turns around, only to bump to an unmoving wall that is Dante.

Dante was annoyed by how easily Montmorency gave up.

"Going somewhere?" he smiled serenely as he asked to the blond water mage with tick marks clearly seen on top of his temple,

And then looked up and called out to the elemental,

"Hey, Water Spirit!"

Dante pushed Montmorency aside and faced the Water Spirit.

"Wait! You! Stop it! Don't anger the Water Spirit!"

Montmorency tried to thrust Dante aside,

As if Dante could be budged.

"Back off, Girl." the devil hunter muttered in a tone that chilled her very soul.

As if it wasn't enough, Dante glared at her, his eyes once more temporarily flashed red, causing her to draw back in fear,

Guiche inclined his head wondering. Louise silently drew closer to Dante. Seeing such a scene, it was hard to tell which one of them was the Master.

As much as Dante wanted a match with this apparently a powerful force of nature, he also considered the possible effect of said action, would be more trouble with the locals and probably in later times the rest of the natural magical cycle. So this will have to suffice...

"Great Water Spirit! Please! I will do anything you ask for your tear!"

The Montmorency shaped Water Spirit didn't answer anything to Dante, who remained standing upright, defiantly staring down at the said powerful being.

Then he did the unthinkable, he bows his head to the water spirit.

"Please...An important person to me right now is in trouble. Don't you have someone important to you as well? My important person right now needs help... and for that, a part of your body is needed! Could you please hear me out? "

Hearing this, Montmorency stopped trying to pull Dante away and let out a deep sigh.

Guiche, who was moved to tears already, nodded. Louise, feeling insecure, kept on clinging to Dante.

The Water Spirit changed her appearance few times before taking Montmorency's shape again, and said to Dante,

"Very well."

"Is that a yes?"

"But with one condition. As someone that doesn't know the reason of this world, you said that you would do anything?"

"Yeah! That's what I said!"

Silence...

"Then repel those that attack me." The Water Spirit once again spoke,

The party looked at each other.

"Repel?"

"Yes, I have raised the water level as far as I could. I no longer have the energy to fight them. If you can fight them off, I will bestow unto you my tear."

"No, I hate fights." Montmorency shook her head,

Dante put his hand on Montmorency's shoulder and patted it while speaking ominously.

"You want to have some extremely painful S & M action together with your beau instead?"

The blonde water mage shuddered at the memory of the things Dante had showed the couple the day before, all of it promised to bring pain in all manner of ways...

Montmorency could not help but to give in.

"I know, already! I'll do it!"

So it was decided that they needed to discover the identities of the people attacking the Water Spirit.

／人◕ .◕人＼

The place where the Water Spirit lives – the very bottom of the lake. Someone, using magic, attacked her there in the middle of the night.

Dante and the others hid themselves in the shade of the tree on the shore at Gallia's side – a place that the Water Spirit showed them – and waited quietly for the assailant to come.

Guiche, to cheer himself up before the battle, took a sip of wine that Dante brought. When all of his anxiety was gone he started to sing.

He's dead drunk.

'I'm not so sure that he'll be effective by the time these guys arrive' Dante sighed,

Dante pushed his head aside.

Louise was in an extremely bad mood because Dante was only talking to Montmorency.

"Why he is nicer with Montmorency than with me, does he love her, or maybe he just hates me, waah waah" – she cried angrily, and, with her roaring around like that, Dante had no choice but to kiss her cheek many times to calm her down and put her to sleep.

Much to his annoyance…

_'I will certainly hunt down the one who put me in this fix in the first place_.' Dante swore...

The thing is, he also knew that it was partly his fault anyway...

At the moment, she was sleeping calmly next to him, breathing softly with a blanket wrapped up around her.

'Guess anyone would be like that if a potion made them fall madly in love.'

Dante now began to formulate tactics, starting with knowing how the enemy might possibly work…

"The people that attacked the Water Spirit went to the bottom of the lake. How can they breathe under the water?"

Dante asked Montmorency.

Montmorency thought for a while.

"Maybe it's a water element user? With a ball of air created around the user it's not that hard to get to the bottom of the lake. At the same time, even if you use water magic and are able to breathe underwater, directly touching the water would be suicidal as the Water Spirit controls it here. So maybe it was an air element mage, that way one can avoid touching the water."

According to the Water Spirit, she was attacked every night on a regular basis, having bits of her body cut off.

"But how could someone wound it and still go unnoticed?"

"The Water Spirit's movements are slow… Besides, if you separate the Water Spirit from her source of water, her magic eventually wears out. Using a strong flame would make her evaporate gradually. It becomes impossible to connect back to a liquid again once being turned into gas."

"It is impossible to turn back?"

"The Water Spirit's soul is like moss. Even being torn to pieces it can reconnect itself into one again, as long as it has all the pieces. It is a really complicated creature compared to us."

"Hmmm…"

Dante nodded.

"And because the attacker is not touching the water, the Water Spirit cannot reach him." The blond water mage continued,

'So this one can be easily beaten, given the right tools, huh? Oh well, there goes my dream fight.' He thought,

"Then it is not that powerful at all. "Dante comments,

"Really… You do not know how scary the Water Spirit can be… Even if for a single moment one lost concentration and the air ball disappeared allowing the water to connect – then it would be dreadful. Water controls other creatures' lives, if you lose the protection of an air ball, then you would enter the Water Spirit's territory where challenging her is something that even the greatest daredevil should not do."

Dante sighed. Really, Halkeginia has no idea how powerful Dante could get. The Devil Arms Agni and Rudra would be enough to beat the elemental spirit to submission.

But since the Water Spirit gave its word, he decided to go through with the commission. Who knows, if they could give the water spirit the run to its money, then these guys could even prove a challenge...

Then a crazy idea came to him…

"Hey Guiche, **GET OVER HERE.**" Dante calls his apprentice, with emphasis on the last three words, which sounded like a certain yellow rope dart using, undead ninja's.

"Y-yes, master?" Guiche asked, with his teeth chattering.

"Don't you think it's time you show off what you learned to Monmon..."

Guiche's face paled…

／人◕ .◕人＼

Two moons were shining high above in the sky. It's midnight.

Guiche shut his mouth and with one hand brought Derflinger which Dante loaned him and was hanging on his back, closer.

Montmorency, scared by the sudden tension, muttered in a shaky voice.

"Anyhow, because I hate savage fights, I'll leave it all up to you."

"Don't worry Montmorency. I am here. I will bravely protect the maiden from war and punish the villain."

Guiche, who is apparently a bit tipsy from drinking wine, started leaning towards Montmorency.

"Listen, just go to sleep already. You reek of alcohol."

A huge hand picked the drunken boy by the collar, and Guiche suddenly finds himself staring at the Dante's angry gaze, that it seemed that the devil hunter's eyes are glowing red...

The boy gulped with fright at the sight, so much that he turned sober.

"**YOU**. **DECOY**." He growled in an inhuman voice at the blonde boy,

Guiche quickly nodded, red-faced.

And so here he is now,

Guiche took a deep breath. The fighter's intuition that he gained from experiencing through the hell Dante has put him through, is now telling him that someone was near.

／人◕ .◕人＼

At Dante's side, he carefully lays the mini mage to rest in a grove not far from the lake, just far enough for her not to be involved in the crossfire that might occur.

He gazed at Louise's sleeping face.

"Wait for me, I will definitely bring you back to sanity..." he muttered silently.

／人◕ .◕人＼

One hour passed after that. Shadows appeared on the shore. It was two people. Because those figures were wearing jet-black hooded robes it was hard to tell whether they were men or women.

Dante gripped Rebellion's handle. His eyes began to shine in anticipation.

However, he hadn't left the hiding spot. He still could not decide whether it was these people that attacked Water Spirit or not.

Then, the pair pulled out their wands while standing at the waterside.

It looked like they started chanting spells.

Convinced that there was no mistake by now, Dante stood up from the shade of the tree and moved towards the pair.

'These two people should be an easy match for the boy.' He thought,

Dante hid himself behind the tree right next to the pair.

Seeing Dante squatting down with his hand ready to signal the attack, Guiche started chanting the spell.

Dante tried to signal *Wait*, but it was too late…

Guiche is too nervous to notice the signal.

The ground where the pair stood suddenly rose and became a huge hand-like tentacle that twined around the assailants' feet.

Silence.

"Tch." Dante clicked his tongue, but something caught his eye.

He then gestured to Guiche that the devil hunter will move out somewhere else.

And he's leaving Guiche on his own?

As soon as Dante signalled his intentions, he disappeared in a flash…

Guiche was at a loss for words…

'But come to think of it, he may be have noticed something even more dangerous went after it, and entrusted me to fulfil my role.' Guiche thought,

Elsewhere, Dante stood on a tree branch just tall enough for him to observe the battle. He may not be needed to do anything at this point.

Besides, by the looks of it, they are just humans, mercenary mages.

So Dante had to hold himself back a few notches…

And maybe let the boy experience two against one battle.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Guiche dashed out of the shade of tree. The distance to the mages was about 30 mails.

The blonde apprentice demonstrating his speed out of his training, managed to close the distance in less than three seconds.

However, the enemy's reaction was quick. The assailants started muttering spells the same time as the ground raised. The flame flew out of the end of the wand, burning down the soil that was gripping the pair's feet. The smaller shadow acted even more surprisingly.

Instead of releasing their spell towards Guiche's earthen hand, the person aimed it towards Guiche, who was surprised that the strategy failed him.

'Where is Master Dante?' he thought,

The boy turned around quickly and the enemy's wand swung around.

Suddenly, an air hammer spell hit Guiche's body. Guiche, who did not expect such attack cast in such speed, was hit in the front and easily blown away.

"I have to do something...' the boy thought, shaken by the hit, as he tried to recover,

In no time, an ice arrow followed. Guiche turned his body and jumped up dodging it, but the taller mage shot a big fire ball at him. Though the boy tried to dodge that too, the aiming was accurate as Guiche's movements were anticipated beforehand.

"Partner! Raise me!" Derflinger, the sentient blade Dante lent to him, shouted.

Guiche quickly blocked the flame ball with the sword, yet, even though it was sturdy enough to block said attack, it exploded, scattering around the fragments of fire, raining bits of burning flames to his clothes.

Guiche for a moment was taken off guard, as he got damaged from the attack.

'T-they're strong!' he thought, casting a rock shard spell, which the two barely evaded.

It seemed like he underestimated his foes...and for some reason they seemed pretty familiar with the ways of fighting in this manner.

Unlike him, who barely survived the last real battle he had…

It seemed the enemy was experienced in combat and anticipated an attack from a different direction, not being surprised in the slightest.

Moreover, they worked together skilfully. While one was preparing the spell, the other was releasing it. Though this was a simple tactic, the results were very effective. Anyhow, there was no opening.

He quickly thought of a strategy. And as per Dante's instructions, he really needed to be careful not to hurt these assailants.

Unfortunately, the two cloaked mages had no such restrictions...

Raging winds tried to snatch the sword out of the hands of the Guiche, who is now ready, and stood his ground firmly. And muttered a spell for a rock wall to shield him…

His body suddenly felt heavy, another spell was cast on him preventing him from moving further. In the corner of his eye he could see another huge fireball coming his way.

The moment before the fireball knocked against Guiche, the area in front of him exploded.

"What the..." Guiche exclaimed,

This was totally unexpected for his part.

The fireball and the boy were blown off.

This magic was… Louise's 'Void'!

"Don't bully Danteee!"

Louise's scream echoed through the night.

'Though she was asleep earlier… but she was probably woken up by all this noise.' Guiche thought,

She screamed Dante's name just then.

Where is he?

Louise waited for an attack, but it seemed like the assailants' guard was off now.

Since they apparently lost their magical foci,

The pair stopped moving. Aside from having their wand and staff taken out of their hands, Louise's scream made them realize something.

*Click*

Dante stood behind the two cloaked mages, with his eyes blazing, biting their staff and wand like a rabid dog, with Ebony and Ivory drawn and pressed against their heads, and a leather pouch with couple of recently killed rabbits tied to his belt…

'Where the heck did you come from?' Guiche thought, then saw the pouch tied to the devil hunter's belt,

'Oi! You left me in a life or death situation just to hunt for rabbits?' Guiche complained in his mind, being mindful of not to tell Dante off…

Then as suddenly as he appeared, the devil hunter's expression changed into a look of instant recognition…relaxed and holstered his firearms.

The two shadows looked at each other.

And removed their hoods.

The faces that appeared in the moonlight were…

"Kirche! Tabitha!" Guiche shouted loudly.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Later...

Dante, who returned the magical foci of the two mages, had begun questioning Kirche, who was roasting the rabbit meat with Tabitha around a bonfire.

It seemed that Dante took the time off during the battle to hunt rabbits.

Guiche appeared to be completely content after getting healed and had been talking loudly to himself with a glass of wine in his hand. He seemed only too relieved that the trouble is over, and apparently forgot much of what happened earlier.

It was well past midnight, and the twin moons glittered beautifully over the surface of the lake.

It was a wonderful sight to behold.

Kirche approached Dante, just to be near her 'Darling'.

Dante felt that there is some reason of them attacking the water elemental, he could not help but admire both their team work.

"You guys are really good."

"Victory or defeat is also dependent on luck. If Guiche's luck were better, we could only have run..."

Though saying so, Kirche proudly brushed up her hair.

Dante suppressed a knowing grin.

"But why are you attacking the Water Spirit?" Dante asked, sitting near the bonfire.

"Why do you need to protect it?" Kirche countered.

Louise, who had been nestling up to Dante's back for some time, pulled the sleeve of his coat sadly.

"Do you think Kirche is better than me?"

"What? Er... No - that's not true! I was just asking about what's going on! Anyway, why don't you get some sleep?"

"No way, I don't need to rest! Don't you want to talk with me? That is the 32nd time you've told me to sleep today."

It seemed as if Louise had been counting the words Dante had said to her. Although a little scary, Dante felt that Louise was really lovable at that moment, AS A YOUNG SISTER, that is.

But right now he was busy so he gently placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke as if she was a small child: "We can talk afterwards, you should go to sleep. You just cast a major spell, aren't you tired?"

Louise was bashfully tracing circles with her finger on Dante's chest.

"Then... promise me with a kiss."

"What...?"

"Kiss me or I won't go to sleep."

Dante felt that this might be the worst time of his life,

Dante sighed, and thought of the fact that dealing with love struck girls is a lot more troublesome than hunting high levelled devils.

Kirche's stared at them, her mouth agape. Looking at each other, Guiche and Montmorency giggled. Kirche and Tabitha were still unaware of what had happened.

Dante very reluctantly kissed Louise's cheek.

"Cheek isn't enough!"

Louise puffed up her cheeks and muttered bluntly.

Dante felt extremely awkward, it would be too embarrassing to kiss Louise straight on the lips with everyone watching.

Even more so without anybody watching.

'How about I punch you in the kisser to get you to sleep instead...' Dante thought in annoyance, about to do just that.

But then again this is Louise under the powerful Love Spell…

He worried for a while and finally decided to kiss her forehead.

Louise was reluctantly satisfied, and crawled into his lap, resting herself between his knees and pressing her body against his chest she closed her eyes. Just like a kitten snuggling against a pillow…

Soon her breathing slowed and light snores escaped from her slightly open pink lips.

Kirche was amazed at how the scene ended…

"How did you manage to domesticate Louise to this degree? I do know that you were the kind of guy who was able to entice any girl, but I'd like to know the details on whatever did you do that made her treat you like a god?" Kirche asked in admiration, as she made a smooth move to go to his side.

"Umm… and would you please do the same thing to me?" she asked him in a very seductive voice.

"Hmm... Maybe later..." Dante half-jokingly considered the offer, causing the Redhead to squeal and gush with joy and excitement...

And did I mention that it was a Half-Joke?

Dante decides to explain himself anyway...

"It's not like what you think, Montmorency made a love potion and Louise accidentally drank it. The first person she saw was me and now she has fallen in love with me."

"Love potion? Why did you make such a thing?" Kirche asked Montmorency, who was nibbling some meat.

"Oh, I was just curious to see if I could do it."

Montmorency had sidestepped the question with a trivial answer...

"Really, a woman who has no confidence in her charms is the worst. Don't you agree?" Kirche comments,

"Go die! Anyways, it's all Guiche's fault, if he had drank it, we would not need to search for the antidote now!"

"Are you saying it's my fault to begin with?"

Dante explained the entire situation to Kirche.

In order to make the antidote, they needed the Water Spirit's tears. And in exchange for it they needed to repel the attackers...

"So that was it, that's why you are protecting the Water Spirit?"

Kirche looked awkwardly towards Tabitha who had been staring into the fire with a glazed expression.

"This is bad; we can't fight you, but if we don't stop the Water Spirit, Tabitha's family will be in trouble..."

"Why is it necessary to get rid of it?"

Prompted by Dante, Kirche replied hesitantly. She could not openly tell the private matters of Tabitha's family for sure.

"You see, the water levels have caused damage to the surrounding area. Tabitha's family has suffered losses because of the damage so we have been entrusted to get rid of it."

So that was it. They couldn't go home empty handed. Then how should they handle it... Dante considered it for a while and concluded.

"That's fine, you can stop attacking the Water Spirit and we can find out why the Water Spirit is raising the water level so much and ask it to stop."

"The Water Spirit will listen to us?"

"This morning we negotiated with it and it agreed to give us a part of its body if we stop the attackers."

Kirche considered for a second and asked Tabitha, "As long as the floods stop and the land is restored to its original condition would that be ok?"

Tabitha nodded.

"Great, it's decided! We can carry out the negotiations tomorrow!"

／人◕ .◕人＼

Early the next morning, Montmorency, like the previous day, released her small frog familar into the lake to call the Water Spirit. The water parted and the Water Spirit rose up through the morning mist.

"Water Spirit, the attackers will no longer bother you, as per the agreement will you give us a part of your body?"

As Montmorency finished talking, the Water Spirit's body trembled and a portion of its body was repelled as a thin line into the vial Guiche was holding.

Its promise completed, the Water Spirit sunk back towards the lake, however Dante quickly called for it to stop.

"Please wait! I have something to ask you!"

The Water Spirit rose up from the water's surface, taking, to Montmorency's displeasure, a naked Montmorency's shape once again.

"What is it, Son of Sparda?"

Dante was taken aback by the elemental's statement. But that will have to wait. He asked,

The name mentioned shocked the entire party the first time the elemental mentioned it…but kept their silence… as the devil hunter gestured a *Questions will be answered later* sign at them.

"Why have you raised the water? If there is a reason can you tell us? We would be willing to help if you can stop."

The Water Spirit's body grew in size and assumed various positions. It concluded by twisting its form into that of Montmorency in a gesture that seemed to express feeling. Perhaps its form reflected its thoughts.

"I will consider entrusting this task to you, Son of Sparda, as I have known your father before. And since you honored our previous contract, I know that I can trust you."

Suddenly seeming angry, the Water Spirit paused. Dante said nothing, and waited for the spirit to continue. After several shape changes, the Water Spirit had settled once again in Montmorency's form and continued to speak.

"A long time ago, their kind stole one of my treasures." The elemental indicated the rest of the party, the humans.

"A treasure?"

"Yes, my most important possession was stolen from the deepest part of my lake, about thirty months before the moon's crossing."

"Approximately two years ago..." Montmorency murmurs.

"Are you trying to take revenge on humans by increasing the water level and flooding villages?" Guiche asked,

"Vengeance? Our kind does not have that purpose. I am simply trying to retake my treasure, and even if it takes eternity, water will slowly erode the land. Even if I must sink the entire continent I will regain what I have lost."

"You're willing to do so much?"

This was going too far, the Water Spirit was willing to submerge an entire continent in order to reclaim its treasure in a process that could take hundreds, even thousands of years.

"You sure are patient." The devil hunter sighed,

"Our concept of time is different, for me the whole is the same as the present. All time is the same to me, regardless of the present the future will always come. It makes no difference as I will always exist."

The Water Spirit did not seem to have the concept of death. Time on this scale would be unimaginable to a human.

"Well, we can help you retrieve your treasure. What is it?"

"My treasure is the Ring of Andvari, it had been with me until now."

"I think I have heard of it."

Montmorency muttered.

"A legendary magic item of the water system. It is said to give false life to the deceased..."

"That is not incorrect, but death is a concept that I do not understand, therefore I cannot understand your description. The Ring of Andvari does not simply bring false life, it is the embodiment of the ancient "Strength of the Water", it is not simply a magical item."

"Then who stole such a thing?"

"Using wind magic, several humans came into my dwelling. They did not disturb me in my slumber and took away my most prized possession."

"So you don't know their names?"

"One of the people went by the name Cromwell."

Kirche said to herself, "If I haven't misunderstood, he is the new Emperor of Albion."

Everyone but Dante could not help but look at each other in dismay.

"I think he might be the one…" Dante surmised,

"Could he be a different person? There could be two people with the same name... If he has gained the power of false life, what will he use it for?"

"Those who are revived have their freedom stolen. They must obey the owner of the ring."

"It is a truly evil ring, animating the dead is a disgusting power." Kirche said in a low voice.

Kirche continued to mutter to herself, she felt as if she should have remembered something but couldn't grasp the thought.

Dante nodded with a firm resolution, and turned towards the Water Spirit.

"I understand. Will you please stop raising the water level and I guarantee you that I will return your ring."

The Water Spirit vibrated.

"I believe you; if you can bring back the ring I will no longer raise the water."

"Then when should I bring it back to you?"

This time the Water Spirit shook and trembled.

"Before your life ends, otherwise I am unconcerned."

"You don't mind such a long time?"

"I don't care, to me tomorrow is no different from any other part of the future. So I bid you farewell, Son of Sparda." After saying this, the Water Spirit began its return to the depths of the lake.

'How on earth did this spirit would have known of Sparda?' Dante wondered, but puts it aside to get this fiasco done and over with...he can ask it later.

Tabitha stopped it from leaving by calling out.

"Please wait."

Everyone stared at Tabitha in surprise. Although she had been with them all this time, this was the first time she had spoken out.

"Water Spirit, I wish to ask you something."

"What is your question?"

"We humans have always called you the "Spirit of Oath', I would like to know the reason."

"Mere human, my own as well as that man's and your existences are completely dissimilar. I cannot understand your question completely, but I can speculate. My existence in itself is the reason for this name. I do not have a fixed shape, yet I will never change. For uncountable generations I have always been here with the water."

The Water Spirit, trembling, spoke. The sound rang in the air.

"Because you are eternally unchanging, therefore you will forever carry our hopes."

Tabitha nodded, and then shut her eyes. In the end, who had she made an oath to?

Kirche gently put a hand on her shoulder.

Montmorency, having seen such Tabitha's appearance, immediately poked Guiche.

"What?"

"Quickly, make an oath too."

"What oath?"

"What did you think I made the Love potion for anyways?"

"Mmm! Ah... I swear that I will consider Montmorency above all others from this point forward..."

She poked Guiche again.

"Oww... Ah...! Really! I swear!"

"I don't want to be above others, I want to be the _only_. Swear you love only **_me_**!"

Guiche forced sad words out in a tone that most people would find hard to believe.

"I swear..."

'Looks like I had just witnessed someone damn himself to eternal bondage yet again…' Dante thought, trying his best to keep himself from laughing at his sort-of- protégé's expense.

Louise had also pulled on Dante's sleeve; her eyes were gazing up at him.

"You too - swear to me."

Dante looked into Louise's face looking as if thunderstruck,

'Aw, Hell No…'

He may think that way, but for some reason, he couldn't help but feel somewhat lonely should he tell her off like that, Love potion or not.

Even though it was only because of the Love potion, how many times had she told him that she loved him?

But Dante preferred the original Louise. Even if she was a bit hard to deal with without having to scare her from time to time, he thought the original was better.

"You are not willing to swear to me? You don't love me?"

'This one is more tenacious than my all my obsessed exes combined.' Dante thought as he heard the line.

Tears filled Louise's eyes.

"Sorry... I cannot swear to you... I cannot make a promise to you the way you are."

When Dante said this, she began to cry. Dante hugged Louise, as he gently stroked her head.

／人◕ .◕人＼

In one of the rooms in the girls' dormitory at Tristain's Academy of Magic, Montmorency was trying her very best at mixing something while Dante and the others watched her.

"Done? Fuu! Still, that really was difficult?"

While wiping the sweat from her forehead, Montmorency flopped onto her chair.

Inside the pot on top of the table was the cancellation drug that she just mixed.

"It's fine to just drink it like this?"

"Yes."

Taking the pot, Dante brought it to the tip of Louise's nose. Louise grimaced from the smell.

"Well then, Louise. Drink this."

"No. It stinks really badly."

Louise shook her head. Crap, I should have mixed it with something and have her secretly drink it. In order to have children eat carrots, you chop it and mix it into a hamburger.

"Please. Drink this."

"If I drink this, will you kiss me?"

Dante nodded, realizing he had no other choice.

"Got it. If you drink this, I'll kiss you."

Louise answered, "I understand", and took the pot.

She looked at the contents with a disgusted expression for a while, but she closed her eyes resolutely and drank it all. Montmorency, observing this, poked Dante.

"For now, shouldn't it be best if you run away?"

"Why?"

"Because the memories of the time when she was madly in love with you after drinking the love potion don't disappear. She remembers everything. That Louise remembers everything she did and was done to her."

Dante's look went blank and looked at Louise.

'Now she tells me...'

"Buhwa!" went Louise who drank the whole thing, and then she hiccupped once.

"Funya."

After that, as if an evil spirit had left her, her facial expression completely returned back to normal. Seeing Dante in front of her, her face suddenly turned red. Chewing on her lips, she started trembling.

Dante muttered, "Oh Hell," and tried to sneak out of the place.

"Wait."

"Sorry, but I need to feed for my pigeon..."

"You don't even keep a pigeonnnnnnnnn!"

Louise's voice resounded.

Sometime Later...

Explosions filled the Academy halls as Dante quickly dodged on explosion after another, as Louise cast numerous explosion spells, all aimed at Dante.

'And I thought she will forget the entire thing once she recovers' Dante thought as he Air Tricked out of the halls and out into the field...

"DANTEEEEE! COME BACK AND FACE YOUR PUNISHMENT!"

"It's not my fault you drank the damn potion laced wine."

Another explosion and Dante just sort of...SNAPPED!

"ALRIGHT, THAT. IS. ENOUGH!" the devil hunter spoke, once more taking the voice of his alternate form, his devil trigger...

And thus in mere minutes...

Louise is once more reduced to a scared, shivering wreck...

"Sorry, I just needed to do that." Dante consoled the shivering girl with a mug of warm chocolate.

Louise once more realized how scary her guardian being could get when pissed off…

On a bench in Austri Plaza, Dante was laying on it lazily. Beside him was the finally calmed-down Louise, sitting on the edge of the bench, who was blushing and thinking about something while pursing her lips out as if she was angry.

The two moons had risen and were shining on the two gently. However, the atmosphere running around the two was far from gentle and was awkward, hot, and numbing. In other words, the atmosphere between the two had returned to normal.

"Do you feel satisfied now?"

Dante muttered.

"I-if I was normal, I definitely wouldn't have done something like that! Really! Hmph!"

"I know that."

Dante muttered in an exhausted voice.

By that time, finally, Louise realized that it was not Dante's fault at all. Even so, he let Louise do what she did and received her outrage.

For a while that is...

But… It really was embarrassing. The memories of the moments after she drank the love potion kept her from approaching Dante.

"…It's fine."

Dante muttered to the pinkette before she could say anything, in an exhausted voice.

"I-I'm not worrying about it. Really I just want to hurry and forget."

Haa, why can't I be honest? She thought. Then, Louise asked about one thing that was bothering her.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"About what?"

"When I was, well, in a state where I couldn't live without you thanks to that drug… why didn't you, um, d-d-do anything?"

Dante answered frankly.

"That's because, that wasn't you. I can't do something to you when you aren't you. I can't leave myself to lust and defile a person important to me."

'Besides, I'm not into brats...or Lolis'

Being told she was important, Louise blushed. However, she couldn't show him such a face. Louise turned her face away. But, she was really bothered. 'Why am I important? Hey… why? '

"Wh-wh, why am I important?"

She asked in a trembling voice.

"Well, you provide food and a place to sleep."

"Haa..." She felt disappointed.

'Well, that makes sense. I'm embarrassed I even got excited for a moment.'

Louise had turned her face from Dante.

Still, he's a summoned being that still does his best to help her out, calling her "someone important" after all that. Becoming a bit more honest, Louise apologized in a pouting manner.

"...I'm sorry. I won't get angry anymore. You have the right to do stuff freely too."

To be truthful, she didn't want to say this. She remembered the time when the love potion was in effect. Those might have been her own true intentions, she thought.

"It's fine. You aren't you if you don't get mad. Do what you want."

Then, the two fell silent.

And relaxed as they watched the scenery...

／人◕ .◕人＼

We leave this scene in such a manner and proceed to the next part of this tale...

Mission 22.5 : (Insert Awesome Title Here) XD

Morning came to the Tristain Academy of Magic.

It had been three months or so, since Dante started his life as Louise's familiar at Tristain Magic Academy. If one were to explain an average day for Dante, it would read like the following:

First, like the majority of animals and humans in Tristain, he woke up early in the morning. His bed was the sofa bed laid in the corner of Louise's room.

Dante slept like a log but always seemingly able to keep an eye on things that occur during his rest, and waking up at times to see and hear things, such as Louise's sleep talking about a stupid familiar dog that she seems to constantly torture and insult to no end, Its name seems to be Sai.. something.

'Must be how she lets her frustrations loose.' Dante chuckled. Wrapped in the rich blanket that Guiche had so graciously bestowed upon him, he just shrugs and returns to sleep.

After waking up, the first thing Dante did every morning was to wake Louise up, like a rooster, only with more noise, sometimes, other tricks as well.

One of them is by moving the bed outside, along with the sleeping pinkette…

So poor Louise, will have to suffer being jolted up out of bed by the epic wailing of Nevan's wakeup musical entertainment, until she learns to get up early herself.

Then, after breakfast, he accompanied Louise to class.

In the beginning, the lessons fascinated Dante with their marvels: turning water into wine, combining various reagents to brew special potions, materializing fireballs out of nothing, levitating boxes and sticks and balls out of the class windows for their familiars to fetch, etc...

…

He promised himself that if the instructors would ask Louise to have Dante fetch the levitated object, he will fetch the thing alright, but he will definitely shove it down the instructor's throat, upon his return.

That might be the reason why Louise was not called to do a demonstration.

After a while, the novelty wore off.

In later days, Dante then just wander off through the Academy halls, hang out with the kitchen staff, and have a friendly chat with Siesta. All while Louise goes to class….

And at times, something stupidly funny, or just plain stupid stuff happens.

And one of those days might be this…

With this day being the day of the Void, No classes were held.

A perfect day to just kick back and relax.

Of course, if you live with someone like Dante and Louise you could kiss that relaxation part goodbye.

A loud 'boom' shook the Academy dorm, as Dante was asked by Louise to further train her spellcasting.

"Well, judging from the way you cast spells, the words, concentration of willpower and how you manipulate the magical energy; it's pretty much greater than other students who normally cast the same spells." Dante commented as he checks the damage being done on the ground where Louise is supposed to cast fireball, trying to hit a row of pots, which remained intact. "I think you should try holding back the will to achieve better accuracy."

"No matter how many times I cast, turns out to be this." Louise said, looking worse for wear after casting spell, after spell, after spell.

All results are the same, inaccurate hitting explosions….

"Well look on the bright side," Dante said

"What bright side?"

"If you ever manage to get the hang of casting explosions, you can find a job with me." Dante stated

That sent Louise thinking about her recent dreams about the guy. She still hasn't asked him on what he was doing before he came to this world.

"What do work would you do here?" Louise asked,

"Oh, nothing much. Like I told you earlier, I do odd jobs, but mainly the jobs I ended up doing tends to be more on the pest extermination."

She was too afraid to ask further what pests are those, especially after seeing him thrash Guiche much like how a cat would play with a mouse, right before ripping it to pieces.

Then upon seeing Dante in action in his other battles, Louise wondered on how on Halkeginia did she manage to summon a monster like Dante.

And speaking of Guiche, he's currently sparring with a shadow version of him.

And it's painfully obvious that the shadow is winning.

Meet the Doppelgänger, one of Dante's abilities, the ability to summon a living shadow to aid him in battle.

Guiche is thrown on his back once again, panting hard as his shadow sparring partner looks at the boy in a rather sorry manner.

Dante took to himself to train the boy even more intensely, especially after what he did at the Ragdorian Lake. The boy only fights seriously whenever his feelings take over him. And he was completely drunk and useless during that time...Not that he can blame the kid, as he was doomed to a life of monogamy...

'Must be due to the revelation that Guiche might have been Montmorency's love slave if he ended up drinking the said potion...'

Not that it's any different at this point really, as the fop has now swore to the Water Spirit to devote his entire love towards Montmorency only...

"Poor kid..." Dante mumbled, and said to Guiche aloud,

"Hey kid, are you done already? This is just a warm up, you know."

"I-I-I can still go on, Master Dante." stuttered the Blonde, whose appearance can be considered terribly battered from the practice, albeit he has no bones broken, yet.

"I can still fight."

He still hasn't lost his touch in finding potential devil hunters.

But why is he training this boy to be one is something beyond him at the moment.

Knowing Guiche's military background, he knows that his teachings will be found useful whether he will face monsters or not. Well, that is if he can survive this training.

Then the Lavinia and the Gorgon came...

He hoped that the boy won't be seeing any more devils anytime soon.

Teaching some skills might do him some good, as he had shown the boy how effective it is in both capturing the ladies hearts and prove himself to be a 'better man', during their now infamous duel.

So much for that ladies man part...

Anyways after the said, 'duel', Dante has gained the awe and respect of the almost entire student body, and that included some of the teachers as well, who have heard of this particular event.

As it resulted for the students to be more aware of giving proper respect in regards to dealing with people, regardless of their stature. And in treating servants properly and kindly, as exemplified by the devil hunter in regards to his relationship with the rest of the Academy workers.

"And some of them even called him their Almighty Piercer." Guiche once commented, eliciting knowing grins from the Louise and Siesta.

The two girls eventually warmed up to each other after awhile, and now began sharing stories and some books, the contents of which has to be read to be believed.

'Even in the Middle-Ages, porn already existed.' The devil hunter thought,

Dante got interested in reading one of the books, and is now currently in awe as to how the authors have managed to convey the feelings of the characters to the readers, and how vividly did they picture each and every scene of the stories they wrote.

That included the deeds...

For the record, they are mostly told in the first person perspective…

／人◕ . ◕人＼

And so, Dante continued to drill the two young nobles that morning, as they practiced their respective skills, mainly, at least teaching Louise with the proper aiming with regards to casting of her explosions, and Guiche in exercising sword play with Dante's Doppelganger version of the boy.

"Well, let's take a breather, Louise." Dante suggested as he took the girl by the hand and assisted her to a chair to rest. Siesta then served the little lady with some breakfast and tea.

"You know what? I just don't think I'm cut out to learn magic in fighting after all." Louise said as an air of depression

Louise sighed as she laid her head on the tabletop out of sheer exhaustion. Siesta then kindly took the used dishes away, and replaces it with a cold dessert, the strawberry sundae.

Oh, how Louise's amber eyes glittered at the sight of the confection, and be

Dante just lounged around the on the tea table, still trying to figure out how to train this girl.

Whilst Louise had her morning breakfast at the table near him, looking at the devil hunter in a sidelong glance, wondering why did this powerful being has managed to put up with her, a zero.

Though during the invasion attempt by Albion proved that she has a capacity to do great magic, with the help of the Founder's Prayerbook. Since then, she practiced fireball, and projecting each and basic elemental spells she knew of, mainly earth, wind, fire, and water, as per Dante's suggestion, with varying levels of effects.

Though there were successes, and then there were unexpected results in some of them.

One of them is the wind disarmament spell which was supposed to be a spell of stripping a foe out of his/her weapon/s.

"Alright Louise, try to cast the spell at me," Dante instructed the mini mage,

"Can't just do it..."

"Then think of me as someone dangerous and is after your life."

With Dante saying that, it got a whole lot easier for Louise to cast...

But when Louise tried to cast said spell,

*WHOOOOOOOSH!*

A man sized tornado appeared, and began sweeping across the academy halls.

"I don't think its supposed to do that…" Dante comments, as he looked on,

As it seemed that the tornado is not letting up, and its strength seems to be growing,

"OOOkaaayyy, I think, we should be running now…" Dante deadpanned as he picked up Louise like a cat and began to run off…

The tornado was basically harmless.

But then came…

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA..."

"DON'T LOOOOOOK!"

"OH FOUNDER, WHAT IS THIS!"

"WAAAAHH!"

"Such wonderful view!"

"IYAAAAAA!"

"HEY!"

"Are those pads?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"WAIT FOR MEEEEE!"

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

"WHAT THE?"

"NO RUNNING AROUND NAKED IN THE HALLWAYS! WAIT, WHAT THE HECK DID I JUST SAID?"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"STOP STARING, YOU PERVERTS!"

"OOOOOHHHHH YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"JUST DIE!"

"PLEASE STAY AWAY! KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Panicked shrieks and screams from both student and teachers alike rang throughout the campus,

As if the tornado in itself was not enough trouble, combined with the uncontrollable power of the void...

It was the magical effect of the twisting wind which ended very harmful, to the female populace mainly, actually causing the clothes of the victims to be shredded to bits.

Many of the red-blooded males fainted right away, due to the shock and nosebleeds that followed, upon seeing the number of semi to fully naked beautiful young lady students, maids, staff and young teachers alike as they ran for cover, adding to the increasing number of 'casualties'.

It was chaos unleashed...

Even Old Osmond wasn't spared from the devastation, leaving him utterly stark naked.

Not at all ashamed at his predicament, the old man even posed like a professional body builder…

For some reason, Osmond still has the most ripped body ever seen for a person said to be the eldest among the magic instructors at the academy...

It was only by the afternoon did the now dubbed 'Stripping Storm" did let up… but not without leaving utter devastation… both in mind and body to those involved…

*DING*

In such an emergency, a bell was rung…

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Later…

Louise and Dante, waited at the Academy Head's Office…

"As much as I would like to say it otherwise…" an elderly voice said,

The old man enters the office looking very grave, looked at the duo and…

Suddenly began to feverishly congratulating Dante and Louise,

"Oh! Thank you! Thank you! You two… For giving me the most beautiful experience I ever had in my life. Now I have no regrets in living…"

The old man continued to ramble on to the point that "I will have your statue erected in your honor…just please tell me what spell you used?"

The embarrassment was too much for Louise, and then turned to fury...

"EXPLOSION!"

*BOOOM*

"GUHAA!"

A quick cast of the wand and an explosion that renders the old perv unconscious...

Looks like Louise's aim got better…

If you are wondering,

With the help of the Magic Bell of Sleep, Dante has managed to save the situation by making the rest of the populace think of it as a…

"Hey, Hey, Guiche…" A random boy asked the blonde mage, while the teacher wrote lessons on the blackboard…

"What?"

"I had this dream of having seen a gaggle of our classmates and teachers being stripped out of their clothes by this strange whirlwind that appeared out of nowhere…"

"Really? That's weird, it seemed that I had the same dream too.." Guiche replied,

The other boys nodded in agreement,

"Even though, it was a dream, I will keep it in my heart for the rest of my life…" Guiche declared with his fist clenched, and drooled as he remembered that sweet, sweet dream.

They all nodded in agreement…equally drooling.

／人◕ . ◕人＼

A few days after the "Stripping Storm Mass Dream" incident…Louise has got her head up in the clouds as she got depressed for some reason…

The training continued on,

Being stomped with the problem regarding offensive and defensive magic for his contractor, Dante is presently spending his free time performing a thorough inspection of his beloved weapons, the pistols Ebony and Ivory.

The parts are currently disassembled and carefully laid in the white cloth placed across the table. The activity usually calms him down and relieves a part of his boredom, just like meditating, as he conducts the task to have the guns thoroughly inspected.

Magically enhanced items they might be, they could still susceptible to locking up if it weren't for Dante's extremely careful and loving maintenance, though now they have a resilience level that is way beyond their original weapons designs' supposed to have.

Minutes after the much required inspection of the parts, he looked up towards the two students of his before he proceed with the cleaning and maintenance of the pistols.

Louise is panting really hard from continuous exertion of will as she tries to cast controlled bursts of magical explosion spells with small clay pots, provided by Dante, as targets. Currently, her aiming skills are found wanting, for out of the ten pots, only one got hit.

"At least she managed to hit something," he inwardly comments, remembering his first time to use a gun, a strangely designed white Derringer pistol called 'Luce', said to be his mother's before its other pair was destroyed. It was the predecessor of the later pair of 45 pistols she used before she settled down.

He later found the Smith who constructed Luce and had the other pair, Ombra, the black Derringer made to make the pair complete once more. And proceeds to make a new set of weapons, designed to be used by a girl in mind.

He is now then wondering why said Smith had these made, since the latter set was supposed to be made for Umbra Witches.

"Consider it as a gift from me; I'm pretty sure that you will find a suitable lady for these." Rodin, the trendy weapons smith and dealer in sunglasses grinned.

"Maybe you could even use that as an engagement dowry or something." The bald black smith adds.

Therein ends Dante's reminiscences…

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Guiche, on the other hand faring a bit better, still fighting on gallantly against his shadow opponent, which Dante constructed based on Guiche's stats, only three times stronger, unknowingly to the kid.

At Dante's instruction, the boy must try to score a strike three times, without using any form of magic.

All of his attempts at defeating his shadow clone were mostly thwarted, albeit two of his attacks already went through.

Suddenly, the rapier that Guiche's holding was knocked away from the boy's hand, and flies, point end first towards Louise, who had her back turned and couldn't see it coming.

A gunshot rang through the air, and the rapier gets broken into tiny pieces, keeping the girl from getting impaled by the runaway weapon.

It was Dante, courtesy of Ebony.

Just as Guiche is about to be run through by his dark double, Dante claps his hands causing the shadow to dispel in a puff of smoke, leaving the boy breathe a sigh of relief.

"Nice job kid, you're getting better at this. At the rate you're be better in no time. Just always be aware of your surroundings." He said giving the boy a thumbs up.

Guiche falls to the ground, exhausted, but still alive.

"That's if for today guys." Dante declares, dismantling Ebony, and puts the parts in row on the table and began cleaning them with a rag, and greasing the necessary parts, with inhuman speed.

Louise dragged herself and drew closer to Dante, and to look over as to what the devil hunter is doing.

But before she could ask, Dante smiled "I'm just cleaning out my babies,"

"Are those the guns you use?" Guiche asked, as he somehow recovered from the earlier beating, er training.

Yes. Dante seemed to have stumbled on someone good here.

"Yup," Dante gestures at the pieces of white and black metal objects neatly arranged.

"They don't look like much." Louise absently comments.

Dante didn't reply, but instead, in a flurry of motion that was too fast for the girl to see, and reassembles the two oversized M1911 pistols. Dante ends the reassembly by cocking both empty guns and presents them to the girl.

"Um how do they work?" Louise asks, curiously looking at the weapons.

"You just aim it, "Dante begins, launching a stone high into the air with his feet, draws Ivory and fires it, sending five magical rounds obliterating the stone all in one fluid motion.

"And pull the trigger." Dante said as he turned to the duo.

"Unfortunately, these guys give a lot of kick, making it near impossible for normal guys to use."

Strong enough to the point that its powerful recoil could be used to take Dante into air.

"Whoa," was all the two could say, marvelling at the speed of the reassembly, the demonstration of the weapons, upon seeing the weapons up close. She was kind of expecting for Dante to start talking about himself.

But that was not to be.

After a minute and a half of admiring the guns' beautiful craftsmanship, Dante puts them away back to their respective holsters hidden behind his back.

"May I ask how you load the guns? What ammunition does it use?" Guiche asked, knowing that if this technology could someday be mass produced, it'll spell the end of the rule of Nobles.

"The bullets are 45 caliber sized, magical rounds. And as to how to reload, Magic, 'nuff said." Dante grins.

The statement caused the diminutive mage-to-be to fall again. Dante thought fast to resolve the situation, and found an idea.

"After you take a rest, mind if we shop later?"

／人◕ .◕人＼

Dante wanders around the Academy for rest of the morning, planning take the girl shopping around town, and finally go somewhere other than the academy grounds.

Not that he hated the place. Just a change of scenery could do well for a while.

As she slept, Louise's breathing was even and gentle. There were heavy dark circles under her eyes though, having exerting much when she practiced earlier.

Her sleeping face is always so adorable. It's so doll-like.

So she can be nice sometimes, he thought. Suddenly her side profile looked intensely cuter.

Louise's eyes flickered open.

"Fuaaaaaaaaa~~"

She made a great big yawning stretch, which the devil hunter could compare to a kitten waking up, and then her gaze fell upon Dante, who was sitting on the chair right next to the bed, blinking in surprise.

"Ah. You're awake."

"Y-Yeah..."

He figured he should try to talk to her about something else other than magic.

"Louise. Had a nice nap? Let's go shopping..."

The pair spent the last part of the day, shopping, with Dante treating Louise to anything she wanted, at least for that day.

On one occasion, Dante spots in the crowd of people, a cloaked figure stands among them. And the figure holds a long curved, sheathed blade…

"That sword looks familiar…It can't be…"

But as he tried to approach the said someone, the figure fades away among the crowd as if the said person never existed…

'What the heck…' Dante thought, 'Was I dreaming?'

／人◕ .◕人＼

That same moment…

Up on top of one of the city buildings, Cobalt observed the palace, trying to assess the security of the place…

With him are eleven other cloaked figures, with their sizes ranging from petite, to downright humongous…

Each of then had a specific symbol emblazoned on their cloaks, which appears to be similar to ancient Roman Zodiac symbols… upside down…

"Cobalt, is everything going as planned?" a voice echoed in the assassin's mind.

"Yes Master…"

"Master," one of the figures with the symbol of Leo asked in a growling voice asked, "Will we be needed here?"

"Cobalt and Gigalodon can perform this one by themselves; the rest of you can leave…"

"Tch, I was hoping we could play as well…" the lithe cloaked one giggled, one bearing the reverse sign of Aries,

"You have your orders." The behemoth cloaked one bearing the reverse Taurus boomed, sounding displeased.

And the other ten began to fade into the shadows.

"Don't you screw this up, assassin…" The Leo threatened Cobalt,

Cobalt bearing the symbol of the Archer, merely ignored it.

"Then… proceed." The voice orders,

"As you command,"

Cobalt disappears in a puff of smoke.

Gigalodon, the streamlined figure whose cloak is emblazoned with the reversed Pisces symbol, melts into water and disappears as well.

The City of Tristain continued to bustle busily, unaware of the storm of coming events that could very well shake their very peace…and their souls…

／人◕ .◕人＼

Author's note:

Skim-read and you might miss out small bonuses here and there…

Check out the new cover for this story I just changed as well…

Now for the rants:

Skit on...

One of my dreams in life is for a friend of mine to say to me..."ARE YOU CRAZY?", denoting to anything that I'm about to do or have done...

Ahhh, pipe dreams,

I was currently being teased by my office workers for being single, as I haven't found a girlfriend since I worked in the establishment I'm at now...

Thus, my current state of sadness...GU HU HU HU HU HU! (Imagine me crying like Yui from K-On as she peels onions...) TT-TT

(That is so gross…)

*Sigh...* as much as I wish to have one. But alas, I'm too poor for a relationship.*grumbles*

PLEASE GOD, AT LEAST GIVE ME SOME INCREDIBLY KINDHEARTED, HOT GIRL TO LOVE AND HOLD!

…

*Faints from over ranting...* XD

…..

Skit ends….

／人◕ .◕人＼

Many pardons to those who might be offended…

Hope you had fun reading…

See you next time…

Please DON'T EVER FORGET TO REVIEW!

／人◕ .◕人＼


	23. Mission 23: Truth In Falsehood

Sorry for the wait,

Thanks for the comments,

And if you're still following this story, thanks for the patronage...I had fun in putting this together... hopefully you have fun reading this...as this might be the last stretch of this story.

For some fun ranting, in my part anyway...XD, Here goes...

For trolls out there, as much as I would like to ignore thee, but "You Mad Bro?"

Then again, it's not like they'll be reading this stuff anyway... Their hobbies are probably infuriating people,

Ahahahahahaha XD

Sorry to those I might offend, but it just had to be said...

As much as I wanted to say other stuff, but in the end, we all have to admit as fanfic writers; **we're all basically ripping off our favourite anime/game/book/ other media characters and giving them a personality of our liking or even putting ourselves in their story, and a 'fresh' storyline, regardless of the said 'originality' of our storyline as we claim it to be**.

Besides, this wouldn't be a **Fanfiction** if it's not based on either already established stories, characters or ideas. It so said in the rules and regulations.

On the grounds of the said copypasting, I vehemently deny to one lord's alleged source of the material in which I was said to have copied from. Since I have never known nor read the said fanfic before…

To those who have too much time to waste reading and saying stuff like originality of a storyline and dialogues, I applaud you for citing such far out notions such as "originality" in a fanfiction site.

Are you sure you're in the correct site?

*Grins while flashing a peace sign*

At least that's my POV.

Lines will tend to be similar since they are supposed to be based on the same/similar works of the original story.

Just to clear it up,

The dialogues here at most are based from the ZNT anime and manga, so there will be similarities, and then some thought bits of them came from Gintama...and my own thoughts in a given situation.

Gintama is an Awesome Anime, BTW, I highly recommend it...

Aside from the Hill of Swords, which I really, really adore, referenced and given homage here at one point. There might be others that I unintentionally include, so sorry; I haven't had any more time to read other fanfics as of late, since I have currently had my hands full with RL stuff, barely having enough time to do this little BS, pardon my French.

But thanks for the little heads-up to the rest of the fics I was supposedly ripping off, HoS aside. When I have the time, I guess I'll be reading them. Maybe.

The one thing that I will admit is that I'm currently following the original ZNT storyline; dialogues included from the anime, with a few added subtle elements from my favourite horror/adventure genres...and a little something of my own.

For trolls, "Urusai, **TEME!" **

You don't pay me to write stuff, Kunoyarou, but thanks for the critiques nonetheless.

As to how Dante is characterized:

The rest of Dante's characterization similarities to other fics is purely coincidental, as this is my vision of him, Quirky with a sense of justice, funny, moody, scary, but will always have a slight weakness to the opposite gender and the innocent and weak in particular, though he usually comes off as standoffish.

Read the DMC Light Novels for more info, **Teme**,

Characters aside, Sakata Gintoki and Toshiro Hijikata have similar characteristics, in the same show, right?

I'm getting out of topic here, but that's the point. There will be similarities in stories, but as the tale of the two story tellers would say...

"Let them finish the story. Then judge."

Geez, do I really have to justify this? Don't take stuff in-story seriously folks, it's all in the spirit of fun.

No profits here.

As I have stated a few chapters ago. If you like it, **READ ON**. If you don't, then **"Flock Off, Featherface!"**

Thus, and for a bunch of different reasons, I feel like giving a **(****)┌∩┐**…

That's all the ranting I could do for now...

*Sigh*

*Grin*

Let's begin,

Mission 23: Truth in Falsehood

／人◕ .◕人＼

Fantasy Pic: a side profile of Prince Wales, as his shadow casts a Shark's head, the other pic is a man in armor, with a steel helmet shaped like a dog's head, wielding what appears to be a big-ass katana sword, as the blade casts a shadow of a lady."

Henrietta, nearly naked, was lying on her bed. The only thing she was wearing was a thin chemise. The room she was in belonged to her father, the deceased King, but she had begun to use it after becoming Queen.

Beside the enormous canopy-included bed was her father's favorite table. She quietly reached out with her hand and took the bottle of wine. Pouring it in her cup, she drank it all down in one gulp. Before, she usually lightly drank alcohol when she ate... but after becoming Queen, the amount she drank had increased.

To Henrietta, who was nothing but a flower ornament for the government, being asked for decisions was something she felt anxious about. Most resolutions were brought to her in a decided state, but even so, the one who gave approval of those was her. What was more, even though a state of reduced activity was being kept, the war was still going on.

Even though she was just an ornamental ruler, numerous responsibilities for her had already occurred. Henrietta was still handling that pressure.

She couldn't sleep without drinking.

She couldn't show this to her attendant court ladies or chamberlains, so she drank the hidden wine in the dead of night.

Once again, she poured wine into her cup.

'I might have drunk too much.' She thought drowsily through her intoxication.

She quietly chanted a rune and swung it down at the cup she had poured wine in.

Water overflowed from the tip of her wand and filled the cup. It was a spell to return water vapor in the air back into a fluid. It is a rudimentary spell of the Water-element.

The water overflowed and spilled out of the cup. Possibly because of her drunkenness, she couldn't control the amount she poured.

She drank it all.

Henrietta, whose cheeks were dyed pink in color, fell on her bed once again.

When she was drunk, what she remembered was... the fun days.

The glittering days.

The few times where she actually felt she was alive.

The short time of the summer when she was fourteen years-old.

The words she wanted to hear just once...

"Why did you not say it at that time?"

Henrietta asked, covering her face with her hands.

But, the person who would say it is no longer here.

Nowhere in this world.

She felt that victory might heal sadness.

She thought that the exhausting work of a queen might let her forget about it.

However, she couldn't forget.

Brilliant victories, words of praise, the shouts of the people who respect and love her for being a saint... cannot match that one word.

She unconsciously shed tears.

'Oh no,' she thought. Tomorrow's morning will be early.

There are negotiations with Germania's ambassador. To Tristain and Henrietta who wanted to end this foolish war as soon as possible, it was an important negotiation.

'I can't show them my face wet with tears. I can no longer show my weak side to anyone anymore.'

She wiped her tears. And when she reached out for her wine cup again...

There was a knock at the door.

'Who could it be so late at night? Did something troublesome come up again? It's annoying, but I can't ignore it. Albion might have dispatched their armada again.'

Henrietta put on her gown in a weary manner and asked from her bed.

"La Porte? Or are you the Cardinal? What's wrong, in this dead of the night?"

However, there was no reply. In exchange, there was another knock.

If it isn't the Grand Chamberlain or Cardinal, then just who is it?

"Who is it? Identify yourself. For people who visit the Queen's room so late at night, there is no way one cannot name themselves. Now, speak. Otherwise, I will call someone."

"It's me."

The moment those words entered her ears, Henrietta's facial expression disappeared.

"It seems I drank too much. This isn't good, to hear such hallucinations so clearly..."

Murmuring that, she placed her hands on her chest. But, the intense palpitation of her heart would not stop.

"It's me."

The familiar voice spoke, but to Henrietta, it is impossibility.

"It's me, Henrietta. Open this door."

The voice once more spoke, with urgency...

That did it,

In a speed she thought she never had out of weariness, Henrietta rushed over to the door.

"Prince Wales? No way. You should have died in battle..."

In a trembling voice, she said that.

"That's a mistake. And I am here, alive."

"That's a lie. A lie. How?"

"I had run away. The one that died... was my impersonator."

"That... Even though, the Ruby of Wind is..."

Henrietta checked the ring, a memento of Wales, which was on her finger.

"To deceive the enemy, you have to start with your allies, right? Well, it is understandable that you do not believe me. Then, I will let you hear the proof that I am me."

While trembling, Henrietta waited for Wales's words.

"In the night when wind blows."

The watchword she heard often at Ragdorian Lake.

Forgetting to even answer, Henrietta threw open the door.

The smile she had dreamed of many times stood there.

"Ooh, Prince Wales... You really are safe..."

What followed could not become words. Henrietta tightly hugged Wales's chest, and she placed her face there and sobbed.

Wales tenderly petted her head.

"You are the same as always, Henrietta. What a crybaby."

"That's because, I had completely thought you were dead... Why did you not visit sooner?"

"After losing, I escaped on a cruiser. I was hiding in Tristain's forest the whole time. I could not have the enemy finding my whereabouts, so I changed my location many times. I came to the lands of the castle you live in two days ago... It took time to investigate on when you would be alone. There is no way I could just stand in the waiting room as an audience in the daytime, right?"

Saying that, Wales smiled teasingly.

"As always, you are so mean. You don't understand... how much I grieved... how lonely I felt."

"I understand. That is why I came to see you."

For a while, Henrietta and Wales embraced each other.

"You can come to this castle as much as you want. Albion does not have the power to invade Tristain right now. After all, their reliable armada is gone. This castle is the safest place in Halkeginia. The enemy can not lay a single finger on you."

"It cannot be like that."

Wales smiled cheerfully.

"What do you plan to do?"

"I have to return to Albion."

"What a stupid thing! That is like pointlessly going to throw away the life you barely managed to keep!"

"Even so, I have to return. I have to liberate Albion from Reconquista's hands."

"What a joke!"

"It isn't a joke. For that reason, I came to meet you."

"Me?"

"Your powers are necessary in order to liberate Albion. There are cooperators in the country as well, but... Even more, I need a person I can trust. You will come with me, right?"

"No way... I am happy for those words, but that is impossible. I could have gone on such adventures when I was a princess, but I am now a queen. Whether I like it or not, the country and the people are placed on my shoulders. Please do not say such impossible things."

However, Wales would not give up. With even more zealous words, he tried to convince Henrietta.

"I know it is impossible. But, you are necessary for victory. In the middle of that lost battle, I realized it. About just how much I needed you. I need the "Saint" who will bring victory upon me and Albion."

Henrietta felt something hot welling inside her body. She was needed by her beloved person. Drunkenness and loneliness accelerated the urge welling inside her.

Even so, Henrietta desperately answered.

"Do not trouble me any more. Please wait, I will have people come and prepare a bed for you. Tomorrow, again, we can discuss this topic, slowly..."

Wales shook his head.

"We won't make it in time tomorrow."

Then, Wales easily said the words Henrietta had always wanted to hear.

"I love you, Henrietta. That's why, come with me."

Henrietta's heart started beating in the same rhythm as the times where she and Wales rendezvoused at Ragdorian Lake.

Slowly, Wales drew his lips near Henrietta. To Henrietta's lips that tried to say something, Wales' sealed it up.

In Henrietta's mind, she recalled all kinds of sweet memories.

Because of that, Henrietta did not notice the sleeping magic cast on her.

Still feeling happy, Henrietta fell into the world of sleep.

If only she had noticed the shadows that her beau cast, maybe she would think otherwise.

For the shadow that Prince Wales cast is anything but a human's.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Meanwhile, at the same time...

We find the two main characters relax on a bench, as she recalled the events surrounding the love potion incident.

"Haa, still, how nostalgic... That Ragdorian Lake."

"You've gone there before?"

"Yeah. When I was thirteen. There were occasions where I accompanied the Princess. An extremely grand garden party was opened... It was really lively and showy. It was fun."

Louise pulled at the bottom of her memories and began to talk.

"You know, that Ragdorian Lake was where Prince Wales and the Princess met. In the dead of night, the Princess told me 'I want to go out for a walk, so I need to sneak out of bed. I'm very sorry, but Louise, can you lay in the bed in my place?' and I acted as her substitute. Thinking about it now, that might have been when the two rendezvoused."

When Louise said that, a loud voice sounded from behind the bench. From the mole-dug hole Louise once used to watch over Siesta and Dante, Kirche's red hair poked out. Tabitha was beside her.

"That's it! I remember now! It was Prince Wales!"

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"What! You two were eavesdropping?"

"Ehehe," Kirche crawled out of the hole while grinning.

"Iyaah, I wanted to see you two siblings reconcile with each other... The melodrama after you hit him so much. Then how scary Darling sounded when he said it was enough. Doesn't that seem interesting?"

"Like hell it would."

Dante scowled, while Louise blushed.

Kirche came up to the bench while nodding.

"That's right. I thought I saw his face somewhere before. Iyaah, so that's how it is. That was Albion's lady-killer, Prince Wales."

"Eh?" Dante and Louise shared a look of surprise as they stared at the Germanian girl.

Kirche had seen his face before during Germania's Emperor Inauguration Ceremony. At that time, he was sitting in a guest seat, brandishing his noble and charming smile around him.

She finally remembered just now, so Kirche was satisfied.

"What do you mean by 'That was Prince Wales'?"

Kirche explained to Dante and Louise. How they passed a group of people riding on horses while heading towards Ragdorian Lake. How she remembered seeing that face somewhere before but couldn't remember very well.

"But, I remember now. That was Prince Wales. There was an announcement that he died in battle, but he was alive?."

"That's impossible! That prince should have died!"

Kirche did not see Prince Wales die, so she had not actually felt his death firsthand. Therefore, she asked Dante in a joking manner.

"Oh? Is that so? Then, who did I see?"

"Didn't you mistake him for someone else?"

"There's no way I could mistake that handsome guy for someone else."

At that moment, something connected inside Dante's head. It seemed that was the same for Louise.

'Crap.' Dante thought,

The two looked at each other. The words that the Water Spirit said... There was a peculiar man named "Cromwell" in the group who stole the Ring of Andvari.

"The Ring of Andvari... So, Reconquista really did..."

"Hey, Kirche. Where was that group heading?"

Louise asked out of breath. Being pressured by the two's serious attitudes, Kirche answered.

"He passed us, so; let's see, towards the capital city, Tristain."

'Crap, this means trouble...' Dante thought, adjusting his gun holsters.

Before he knew it, Louise ran off. Dante chased after her.

"Wait! What's going on?"

Kirche was flustered.

"The Princess is in trouble!"

"Why-?"

"No time to explain,"

Kirche and Tabitha did not know about Wales and Henrietta's secret relationship, so they did not understand the meaning behind those words. But, bothered by Dante and Louise's unusual actions, Kirche and Tabitha followed them.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Riding Tabitha's wind dragon, Dante, Louise, Kirche and Tabitha herself, flew towards the royal palace, having left the Academy of Magic two hours ago. It was one hour after midnight.

The courtyard was in an uproar. Louise and Dante felt that their bad premonitions had come true. When the wind-dragon landed in the courtyard, it was instantly surrounded by the magic guardian troops.

The commander of Manticore Corps, loudly ordered.

"Hey you! The royal palace is off-limits now! Leave!"

However, he already recognized the group from sight. They were the same that came here right before the war against Albion started. The commander puckered up his brows.

"You again! You only come at troublesome times!"

Louise jumped down from a wind dragon. She had no time to play games of questions and answers with the captain of the guard. She asked in a breathless haste.

"The Princess! No, Her Majesty, is she alright?"

The courtyard was humming like a beehive. The nobles were carrying the shining magical wands, while solders – torches, looking for something. It was clear that something happened in the royal palace.

"I don't have to tell you anything, damned one. Leave at once."

Her face red with anger, Louise pulled out something from her pocket. It was the permit paper that Henrietta gave to Louise before.

"I am a court lady who is under immediate control of Her Majesty! In my hand I hold the permit papers signed by the Queen! I have the right to exercise Her Majesty's jurisdiction! I request an immediate explanation of the circumstances!"

The commander grabbed the permit papers from Louise's hands with blank surprise all over his face. They were indeed authentic permit papers signed by Henrietta that read - 'Louise Françoise Le Blanc De La Vallière is presented with the right of being a royal representative. Her demands must be granted." With the royal signature attached.

The commander stared with astonishment at Louise. Such a young girl… had such a document from Her Majesty.

He was a serviceman though. No matter how one looked, a superior officer was still a superior officer. Standing upright at once, he reported the situation concerning Her Majesty.

"Two hours ago, someone enticed Her Majesty away. One of the guards was knocked down as they escaped with horses. The griffon squad is chasing after them. We were searching around here to find some evidence."

Louise's complexion changed.

"Which way did they leave?"

"They went south over the highway. Apparently they escaped towards the district of La Rochelle. Without a doubt, Albion has a hand to this. Though the instruction to block the port was sent at once… Dragon Knight corps were almost annihilated in the last war. So the only way we can catch up with them are either by griffons or horses…"

Wind dragons are much lighter than griffons thus they normally would take the pursuit… but the way things were now - it iwas questionable whether it was possible to catch up. Louise jumped onto the wind dragon again.

"Hurry! The thief who kidnapped the princess escaped towards La Rochelle! We will be in serious trouble if we aren't able to catch up by the time the morning dawns!"

Everyone, hearing the circumstances, nodded, looking tense. Tabitha gave the orders to the wind dragon.

Sylphid flew up in the darkness of the night again. Louise shouted.

"Fly low! The enemy is riding a horse!"

Dante suddenly jumps off of the dragon, as he summons the Sleipnir,

"I'll go on ahead and cut them off," Dante said, while he gets on the motorcycle.

While they're still in mid air.

"A-alright."

The vehicle and the rider slam heavily on the ground, and quickly run off into the indicated direction.

The wind dragon kept on flying following the highway with a surprising swiftness.

It was a thick dark night, but even though one could not see even few steps ahead, the wind dragon kept on flying using its sharp nose, avoiding trees and buildings.

The griffon unit had split into two, one flew by griffon along the highway, the other rode on horses. It was to be expected as the Griffon Corps was the lightest of the three squads and they could see better at night. Therefore, it was chosen as the chasing unit. A lot of people in the squad were burning with anger. The enemy attacked the court under the cover of darkness. Even in their wildest dreams one could not imagine that someone would dare to attack the palace of the capital. Moreover, it was young queen Henrietta that was abducted, a successor of the throne. For magic knights that have been guardians of royal family there could not be a greater disgrace than this.

Griffons taking use of their wings and feet rushed forwards. Though the departure was delayed due to all the confusion, the enemy was still using horses. There was no reason they should not be able to catch up. The commander scolded the unit harshly.

"Run! Catch up with Her Majesty as soon as possible!"

One group of the Griffon unit dashed forward.

There was a big hustle between the Griffon units going ahead.

They might have found something. Under the commander's signal, a fire user went forward and launched a flame spell. It lit the highway 100 mails ahead, and one could see distant figures of the riders.

There were ten times as many of them.

The commander put on a brutal smile.

"First of all aim for the horses! Do not hurt Her Majesty!"

The Griffon Corps dashed forwards, launching one spell after another.

After the wall of spells rounded upon the enemies, the knights launched an attack in an instant.

The flame ball, the blade of wind, the spear of ice, all aimed at the horses that enemies rode on. Doh! Earth trembled, making horses fall one after another. The commander confirmed that Queen Henrietta, dressed in her white gown, was riding behind the first horse. In an emergency situation like this, he hesitated – it was necessary to retrieve Her Majesty without injuries. If she were to be injured, he would get some major scolding later.

After muttering an apology, the commander cast the wind spell, cutting the leg of the first horse off and throwing the Princess and the rider down to the ground.

Without mercy, the griffon squad surrounded the fallen enemy knights. The necks of the abductors were cut with wind blades and ice spears went through their hearts. The knight who was leading the run had his head cut of by the commander's wind blade, a deadly wound.

The match was decided in a moment.

When the commander nodded approvingly, the unit stopped.

Then he jumped down from his griffon, and the moment he approached the queen who fell into the grass…

Knights, who should have been dead, stood up one after another.

Griffon knights, who had relaxed their guard thinking that enemy was annihilated, were now caught by surprise by enemy magic.

"Ah!" groaned the commander trying to pull out his wand when his body was wrapped up by tornado.

Limbs were cut off by the tornado, finishing them off in a moment, as the knight who should have been finished by the commander stood up, with a clearly visible torn up wound in his neck, and smiled.

When Wales finally placed the wand to his side he approached the grass where Henrietta had fallen down.

Henrietta only now started to recover from the shock of being thrown to the grass. She watched Wales approach with disbelieving eyes.

"Lord Wales, you… what on earth?"

"Surprised?"

Henrietta pulled out her crystal wand that she always carried with herself and aimed it at Wales.

"Who are you?"

"I am Wales."

"Lies! You killed the magical knight corps…"

"You want to kill me? It is all right. Scoop me out with your magic. Pierce this heart of mine with it if you want."

Wales pointed at his chest. The hand gripping Henrietta's wand started to tremble.

The magic spell did not come out of her mouth. What came instead was a choked sob.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Trust me, Henrietta."

"But… but, this…"

"I will tell the reasons later. Many different circumstances are the cause of this. For now, come with me without asking."

"I-I do not understand. Why did you do these kind of things… What are you trying to do?"

Wales answered softly.

"You do not need to understand. You do not need to like oath, you just need to follow it. Do you remember? The words of the oath you said at the Ragdorian lake. Words you said before the water spirit."

"By no means could I forget. I will remember until the day I die."

"Please say it, Henrietta."

Henrietta said the oath word for word.

"...I, Henrietta, the princess of Tristain vows before the spirits of water that she will love Lord Wales for eternity."

"Only one thing changed now from the oath in the past. You are a queen now. However, does everything else remain unchanged? And will not change?"

Henrietta nodded. I always dreamt only about the day when Wales would hold me in his arms.

"Even though the way things are, the oath sworn before the water spirit cannot be broken. You only have to believe only in your own words. Please leave everything to me."

Each gentle word of Wales turned Henrietta more and more into a girl that did not know a thing. Henrietta kept nodding many times, just like a child. She was completely persuaded.

After that, Wales stood up and approached his knights. One could see open mortal wounds on their throats or chests.

However… ignoring them, they moved just like any living creature.

They went to check the fallen horses, yet, they all were dead.

Then they hid themselves in the tall grass, one after another disappearing from sight.

The line of the ambush.

Without words they and Wales formed a line of ambush, and stopped moving. Just like one living creature.

Dante came to the scene first, as the others flew on the wind dragon following the highway until they saw a tragic sight of corpses scattered around. The wind dragon stopped, and they jumped down. Not getting off, Tabitha looked around attentively.

"Princess."

Dante muttered. Burning corpses with their hands and feet cut off were laying around. Griffons and horses were lying in pools of their own blood. This must have been the griffon unit.

"There's someone alive!"

Dante and Louise ran towards Kirche's voice.

Despite a deep wound in his arm, someone survived.

"Are you all right?"

Louise now regretted not taking Montmorency with them. In cases of wounds, her water magic would be irreplaceable.

"I'm alright… And you are?"

"We, just like you, ran after the gang that kidnapped Her Majesty. What on earth happened to you?"

The knight answered in a shaky voice.

"They, their wounds were really fatal…"

"What?"

However, the knight could not tell anything else. Feeling secure now that help had come, he fainted.

Dante quickly summons the Golden Fleece and covers the soldier with it… and tries to look around for any more survivors… and found two more.

Dante suddenly felt a spike of…something in the air,

"Tabitha, Shield!" Dante shouts, taking Cerberus out as he slams the nunchuck to the ground, and created a wall of ice around the group.

At that moment, a magical attack was unleashed from all directions. Tabitha reacted in an instant as well. Expecting an attack beforehand, she created a wall of air above and let it fly down with her magic.

"Nice move, Tabitha," Dante praised the bluenette, who blushed slightly, and quickly recovers to concentrate with the current situation,

Out of the grass, shadows stood up, swaying in slow motion.

They were once dead Albion nobles now revived by Andvari's ring.

Kirche and Tabitha took a stance.

However, for some reason, the enemy didn't launch an attack any more. Tension started.

Then, Dante was astonished to find a well known shadow there.

"Crown Prince Wales!"

Still, he…

Wales, who was dead and was given a fake life from Cromwell using the Ring of Andvari, stolen from the water spirit, had abducted Henrietta.

Thinking so, Dante was getting angry at such unfair handiwork.

He gripped Rebellion on his shoulder while wielding pointing Ebony with his free hand. His eyes began to shine in amber light.

"Return the princess."

However, Wales didn't drop the smile.

"You are saying strong things. I cannot return her as she follows me on her own free-will."

"Is that so?"

Behind Wales back, Henrietta, dressed in the gown, appeared.

"Princess!"

Louise shouted.

"Please do not go there! That prince Wales is not the real Wales! It is a revenant of the prince, revived by Cromwell's hands with the Ring of Andvari!"

However, Henrietta didn't step forward. She just bit and tightened her shivering lips.

"…Princess?"

"See? Now then, how about a deal?"

"Deal?"

"That's right. Though we would like to quarrel here with you, we lost our horses. And traveling without horses through the night can be dangerous, so I would like to save as much magic as possible."

Tabitha chanted the spell.

'Windy Icicle' – attack spell by skillful Tabitha.

*BANG*

Right in the middle of his words the arrow of ice went through Wales' body along with a single bullet to the heart, courtesy of Dante.

However… surprisingly, Wales did not fall down and the wounds healed itself in another moment.

"It is useless. I cannot be damaged by your attacks."

Yet, even after seeing this, Henrietta's expression did not change.

"Look! It is not the prince! It is something else! Princess!"

However, Henrietta did not want to believe, and shook her head from right to left. Then said to Louise in a constrained voice.

"Please, Louise, put away the wand. Please do it for me. Please let us go."

"Princess? What are you saying? Princess! That thing is not Crown Prince Wales! Princess, you have been tricked!"

Henrietta gave a smile. A ghastly smile.

"I know that. In my room, when our lips met, I knew that 100 times over. However, still, I do not care. Louise, you haven't loved a person so strongly yet. When you really are in love you are willing to throw away everything. You want to follow him anywhere. Even if it is a lie. You cannot do anything else but believe. I swore, Louise. I made an oath before the water spirit saying 'I swear eternal love to Wales'. Even if the whole world says it is a lie, my feelings alone are not a lie. Therefore, let us go, Louise."

"Princess!"

"This is an order, Louise Françoise. My last one, from me to you. Please, step out of our way."

Louise's hand that was aiming the wand dropped down to her side. Understanding Henrietta's firm decision, she helplessly gave in. Why should she stop such said strong love…

The line of deceased people tried to pass through the dumbfounded Louise.

But, before them…

Dante, holding Rebellion, blocked the way.

He was terribly sad. He understood Henrietta's feelings, many times over.

But Dante's mind could not permit it. His mind screamed that he should not let it happen. Dante said in a voice that contained sadness and anger.

"Princess, if I am allowed to say, talking in one's sleep is not good."

His shoulders and body trembled.

"Passion, love, being together with a woman, not caring about anything else. Is such love true? It is just a mere blindness. Blood goes up to the head and one cannot think straight."

"Leave! It's an order!"

Henrietta shrieked with all her remaining dignity.

Dante plants Rebellion in front of him, showing no signs of moving…

"Unfortunately, I am not your subordinate. Your orders mean nothing to me. Even if you keep on ordering me… I won't listen. Rest assure, I will cut through that spell that binds you to 'that'."

It was Wales who moved first. Though he tried to utter a spell, Dante jumped at him.

However, a wall of water blew Dante off.

Though the devil hunter quickly recovers and lands on his feet, looking serious.

Petrified Henrietta, gripping the wand, trembled.

"I won't allow you to lay even a single finger on Wales."

The crushing wall of water moved to Dante again.

Dante's eyes narrowed.

However, the space in front of Henrietta exploded in the next moment. Henrietta was blown away.

Louise had cast an explosion spell.

"Even though you are a princess, I won't allow you to lay a single finger on Dante, either."

With her hair ruffled, Louise muttered in a shaking voice.

Due to this explosion, Tabitha and Kirche, who had been watching the scene in blank surprise, started chanting spells as well.

The fight started.

Dante kept on blocking the magic spells with his swords, in front of Louise.

Though the magic flitted around, no one was wounded seriously. Though Tabitha's and Kirche's unleashed magic was knocking down the enemies, the enemies themselves preserved their willpower, hoping to weaken them up little by little with dot spells.

However, the enemy's teamwork was skillful. Little by little, Dante and the others were cornered.

Before they realized it, Louise, Dante and the others were enclosed in a tight circle.

As much as Dante wishes to use Agni and Rudra now,

They were cornered in a defending position. The number of enemies was too great, thus there was no chance to attack.

Kirche released another fire ball, burning down a single mage.

"The flame is effective! It only has to burn!"

"Is that so…"Dante grinned, and turns to the group,

"At my signal, get down on the ground."

The noble ladies nodded.

As the circle of corpses are now closing in.

"NOW!"

The girls dropped down as the devil hunter glows golden and as Nova of raging inferno wiped out the surrounding corpse mages….

Dante is now wearing a pair of dragon head gauntlets, the Ifrit,

"Well, now that the corpse corps are fried, how about…"

However, heaven turned away from them.

Gradually, Tabitha noticed something wet hitting her cheek.

With a worried expression she looked up into the sky.

A huge cloud of rain segregated above them.

Rain that started as a light sprinkle, changed into a heavy pour soon.

Henrietta shouted.

"Throw your wands away! I do not want to kill you!"

"Just wake up, princess! Please!"

Louise shouted, but her voice was drowned by the sounds of the increasingly heavier raindrops

"Look! Rain! Rain! 'Water' spells will always win in the rain! Thanks to this rain, our victory was decided!"

"Is that so? As if the situation doesn't look bad already…"

Dante deadpanned.

Kirche, who was about to say that, nodded as if she were expressing her disappointment.

"Really, the Princess can cast a wall of water on us with this. My flame is worthless now. Tabitha's wind and even your fire gauntlets cannot damage them… Well, it is over. Defeat!"

Louise muttered in a constrained voice.

"Though I do not want this, let's run away. We cannot die here."

"But how can we run away? We are surrounded, aren't we?"

True enough, there are still remaining corpse mages around, keeping themselves as far away from Dante as possible without breaking their cordon.

No matter how many times Dante shoots them, they just stood in their posts like, er posts.

Everyone became silent.

Then Derflinger thoughtfully voiced out.

"Aah."

"What?"

"I recalled. They use a very nostalgic magic…"

"Yes?"

"When I saw the water spirit, it tickled something in the back of my mind… No, partner, sorry – I forgot. I recalled it!"

"What?"

"Their and our source is the same type of magic. Anyway, it is different from the base of your four great element system - magic of 'Life'"

"What? Legendary sword! Say something only if you have something useful to say! Rusty Blade!"

"The only rusty here is you. Though being a 'Void' user, firing 'Explosion' in rapid succession is foolish, I saw and remembered. Though that person might be very strong, the amount of willpower consumed is immense. Like today, launching huge ones like that may require a year to shoot again. We need different fireworks today."

"Well?"

"Turn the pages of the prayer book. Dear Brimierre, great mage. She sure has some perfect counter."

'She?' Dante thought, was the Founder actually a female?

Louise looked through pages, like she was told.

However, besides the 'Explosion' it was blank as usual.

"There isn't even written anything! White-on-white!"

"Turn further. If in need, you will be able to read."

Louise saw the page on which the letters were written.

It was written down in runes of an ancient language.

"…Dispel Magic?"

"That's right. 'Release'. The potion that you took a while ago is the reason why you can read it."

Henrietta sadly shook her head. Though she told Louise to run away, because of the rain, she didn't run away. Moreso, Louise stepped closer into the center of the tight circle.

Looking up, Henrietta began to utter an incantation.

'I do not want to kill if possible. However, if you keep on blocking my way…'

With Henrietta's cantrip aria, the raindrops began to harden.

One by one the ally mages had an armor of water hanging on them. The enemy's 'Flame' was sealed off with this.

In addition, Henrietta uttered another incantation.

Wales' spell joined with hers. Wales watched Henrietta, smiling coldly. Though she noticed the lack of warmth, Henrietta's heart still felt moistly hot.

They both were surrounded by the tornado of water.

'Water', 'Water', 'Water', and, 'Wind.', 'Wind', 'Wind'

The sixth power – water and wind

Triangle mages usually cannot make such strong spells as this. To say almost never, would not be an exaggeration. However, the chosen blood of the royal family enables it.

Only the royal family were able to do a hexagon spell.

Their combined spell increased to an impossible size.

Two triangles intertwined, creating a huge tornado of six.

The tornado was like a tsunami. If hit, it could even blow away a castle.

The sound of Louise's chanting mixed with the sound of rainfall.

Behind Dante's back, Louise's spell could be cast comfortably.

To Louise nothing was impossible today. She kept on concentrating her willpower while uttering sounds of ancient runes one after another with her mouth.

"What's wrong with this girl?"

Kirche asked with a smile.

"Aah, she's just acting like a legend for now." Dante grasped the sword and answered in a joking voice.

Hearing Louise casting a 'Void' spell gave him courage. Courage that allowed him to smile. Courage that can turn death into a joke.

"So. It is good and all. Yet if that 'Legend' doesn't leak something at least, we won't be able to win against that tornado."

The huge tornado of water whirling around Wales and Henrietta's grew rapidly.

Louise's silent chant continued still. As expected from 'Void'. It was as lengthy as one could be.

"This is bad. The other side is faster after all."

Derflinger muttered.

"What to do?" Kirche asked,

" It is your work to stop that tornado, Windálfr. Since Gandalfr is busy at the moment."

"Already on it."

Dante's eyebrow twitched. Wait. Did the sword just mention the Gandalfr?

"Hey Dante,"

"What?"

"Aren't you..?"

"Scared of such a huge tornado? Don't make me laugh."

"Your work is to attack the enemy, not to defend your master while the spell is chanted. Thiat is supposed to be your only work." Derflinger rattled,

"I can multi-task. Now do me a favor and shut up already."

Dante confidently strides to towards the two royal mages. As much as he wanted to rip and roar with his full power, he also knew that there is a chance that the power might go out of control if he ever unleashed a lot of it.

Hence, he's leaving this one to the diminutive mage. Besides, this is also a test of her mettle once more.

"I leave it to you," Kirche muttered.

Tabitha watched Dante's face.

"Easy victory."

Dante muttered, "Easy for you to say."

Wales and Henrietta's spell was completed. The huge tornado of undulating water flew towards Dante and the others. Though it was huge, it was also surprisingly fast.

It was like a castle of water. A castle of water that was swirling around viciously and trying to swallow them.

Grasping Derflinger and Rebellion, Dante dashed towards the tornado using dancer's steps and pushed Derflinger into the core of the rotating tornado of water and slammed Rebellion with the other hand to the ground for anchorage.

Though he was almost swallowed by the torrent, he stood firmly on his feet.

Pain assaulted his body. But with his demonic constitution, he manages to stand his ground.

The moment when everything seemed to be down to a standstill, Louise finished her spell.

Even though he could not hear a sound or see anything with the onrush of torrents of water, Dante could feel it.

"At last, that stupid midget got it right." Dante muttered and leaped away.

Before Louise's eyes, who completed her spell, a huge tornado raged. However, it didn't reach her. Dante stood in the middle of the tornado, and she could see him standing there like a red wall, shielding the rest from the onslaught of killing waves of water.

As if by a signal, Dante leaps out of the raging force of nature and gestures to the little mage, pointing at the massive waterfall, where one could see a small gap in it.

Louise grins. Through the gap she aimed her 'Dispel Magic' at the enemy.

Henrietta's surroundings turned into dazzling shining light.

With a thump the body of Wales, who stood next to her, crumbled to the ground. Though Henrietta tried to run up to him, she lost consciousness as completion of the spell took all of her willpower and she toppled to the ground.

All at once, she was wrapped in silence.

Unfortunately, she had no idea what came next...

／人◕ .◕人＼

"Is it over?" Louise, exhausted from the casting, looked at the fallen undead mages,

"As much as I wish to say so…" Kirche states, as she points at the corpse of the former Prince Wales,

An ominous voice emanated from the dead body, as it rose from the wet ground like a puppet on strings…

"I congratulate you, young mage, for breaking the spell of the Ring of Andvari. It seems like the reports of you having the power of the void be true," the inhuman voice said, in a voice that seemed to come from underwater…

"Void?" Kirche murmurs, "so that's why.."

*CLICK*

Dante is already beside the possessed corpse, with Ivory pressed to the former Prince's temple,

"Seriously, this again? How many of you devils are there in this world?"

A chilling laugh shook the corpse…

"Heheheheheh, More than you can handle, that I assure you."

"Wrong answer."

In an instant flash of movement, Dante slashed the dead Noble's body with Rebellion.

But instead of cutting the body in half, the blade just passes through the dead body, but in the process, an ethereal figure was thrown out 20 feet away from the corpse.

"Aaaarrggghhhhh, Curse you, Bastard of Sparda." The figure writhed, as it began to solidify, and became a lot more visible.

The rest of the young nobles were shocked at the turn of events.

"Another devil, I guessed that much, you're supposed to be the insurance should the operation got awry, right?" Dante scoffed, laying the slowly dying noble, and spreads the Golden Fleece on top of him and Henrietta.

'This might buy him some time,' Dante thought, he looks at the rest of the group,

"I suggest you guys to take Louise and those two to safety," he motioned to the other two fallen royals…

He stands up with a dark look on his face, and turns to the ethereal figure, which now in the form of a cloaked figure, with the image embroidered at the back of the cloak, of an ancient Roman symbol of Pisces, albeit reversed. At this point we call this one as Pisces.

"Time to take the trash out," Dante said as he draws Ebony and Ivory,

"Let's Rock."

Suddenly, a ethereal sword stabs right in front of Dante,

"Mind if I, 'Cut in'" a familiar voice spoke,

"Cobalt," Dante greets, "Nice to see you drop by,"

"Likewise, I'm sure." The figure in blue responded, with voice dripping with sarcasm,

"ENOUGH OF THIS," the Pisces growled, and with an outstretched hand, the figure summons a torrents of water, in the shape of ribbons, all aimed at the devil hunter.

Dante, with the skill of the Trickster, easily evades the attack, sending the water ribbons shredding the tree just behind Dante.

"Whoah, that was close," Dante said, as large number of ethereal daggers closed in on him at that moment, which he also evades by skilfully cartwheeling out of harms way, deflecting the rest of the daggers with a Prop Shredder with Rebellion.

Just as Cobalt was about to move in, a large scaled claw stops him, and throws Cobalt away like a rag doll.

"Get your own toy to play with, construct." it roared, it was the Pisces, whose form now begins to change, ripping the cloak apart in the process until…

In the figure's place is a 40 foot monstrous chimaera of sea creatures, mainly composed of a Megalodon for a head, Portuguese Man-o-War on its shoulders, Zebra Fish stingers arrayed on its back and a Stingray's tail. Four heavily muscled appendages ending with webbed claws, supported the creature as it stalked Dante, sending tremors as it took a step,

Meet Gigalodon, the Devil Sea Chimaera

"What in the world is that?" Kirche asked, as she hugged Tabitha for support.

"A Devil." Tabitha replied, as she whistled for Sylphid, which swooped down. Tabitha quickly herded the other two nobles on to the dragon, and through the levitation spell, she managed to bring Henrietta and still living Wales up to safety.

'Looks like they're safe,' Dante thought, upon seeing that his friends are no longer nearby, spotting them on top of the now flying Sylphid,

He then addresses the creature in front of him,

"Where were we? Oh, right. I was about to send your carcass back to where you came from. Provided you have a home address with you,"

Another pithy line….

The creature roars, maddened by the said line, and stomped towards Dante in surprising speed, aiming to ram Dante.

*SLAM*

The sound of the collision resounded through the forest…

As the dust clears, only one figure stood his ground,

It was Dante, who is currently giving his right arm a windup stretch,

While his opponent is thrown at least 50 meters from Dante, courtesy of one punch from Gilgamesh, is a set of gauntlets, greaves, mask, and back armor made of a devilish metal which absorbs organic material and transforms it to steel, and its techniques can be powered up by engaging the thrusters on the gauntlets and greaves. The gauntlets have small drills on each arm capable of extending during some attacks, while the greaves have small saws allowing Dante to cut through enemies with kicks.

Way too much information,

"Whoo. You sir, have a really hard face." Dante compliments the Gigalodon, which was shaking the cobwebs off its head, roars and launches a barrage of the spear length Zebra Fish Stingers from its back, aiming to impale the devil hunter, who immediately evades the series of attacks, even taking the time to shoot down other stingers, just because he can.

"Hey, do you have any other tricks aside from this? I'm getting sleepy here."

The Gigalodon launches another barrage of water ribbons along with the numerous Man-o-war tentacles to confuse Dante, which for the first part succeeds, as the stingers actually connect, causing the devil hunter to lose his rhythm, and falls down. And to add insult to injury, the beast lashes its Stingray tail, hitting Dante many times over before Dante recovers.

"Well now, you're pretty good, alrighty then, you dodge this…"

Dante sprays the chimaera with a rain of lead from the twin pistols, cutting off the Man-o-war tentacles off the beast. Another rain of bullets destroys the Man-o-War heads, disabling its ability to create water ribbons…

The beast roared in pain and frustration…

After seeing that the ranged attack is impossible to finish Dante, the Gigalodon tries its last tactic.

It launched itself to the air and for some magical ability, actually dove into the ground which the earth begins to act very much like water around the devil's body.

Then silence…

Dante strikes a pose, standing straight, with guns crossed over his chest, as he closed his eyes in deep concentration…

Louise, Tabitha and Kirche looked on nervously,

"How will Dante be able to defeat this one." Kirche asks no one in particular,

"D-don't worry about him, he won't lose." A tired Louise breathed, as she observes the battle.

"Faith." Tabitha said, as she tends to Henrietta, and the slowly dying prince Wales,

Suddenly, it happened, the earth below Dante explodes, as the Gigalodon launches itself from the ground, with its teeth filled maw wide open, ready to devour the devil hunter in one swift bite.

Unfortunately for him, Dante was ready, and jumps upwards to escapes the ambush, while shooting the creature with Ebony and Ivory. In one smooth move, he charges the Gilgamesh with magical energy, and launches a counter attack, with a supercharged Full House, a diving kick that slashes the beast open with the use of the spinning buzz saws on the greaves…

"And that's how you do it…"

Dante lands gracefully, dismissing the devil arm, as the defeated devil falls down with a thundering crash.

Dante walks to the defeated devil, it's not dead yet, but will never be able to move at all.

Interrogation time.

"Okay, let's try this one more time. Who are you and what are you planning to do with the Princess?"

With the heavily pressing aura of Dante pushing its will down, the devil actually began to spill its guts, figuratively, as its body is doing it, literally.

"We are the Twelve heraldsss of the True Creator of this world. The time is nigh for the Creator to take back what is hisss…"

'Not another Doomsday prophecy. Well, at least now we're going somewhere,' Dante thought, as he pressures the creature further to reveal their aim.

"What are you planning to do with the Princess?"

"Her blood holds the key for the Creator's return…"

"Who is this Creator?"

"You already know who he issss…"

The Gigalodon's remains explodes in a gory fashion as a thousand blades slashes the defeated devil to bits.

"That stupid blabbermouth," Cobalt spat, as he emerged from the wooded area where he was flung earlier.

Eyeing Dante, the cloaked figure tilted its head and said, "You still good for another round?"

Before Dante could reply, a black orb slams where Cobalt has stood earlier…

The black orb repeatedly slashed the trees before it disappeared in a flash, revealing that Cobalt has already disappeared.

Dante's eyes widened as he recognized the attack technique, but for some reason, the energy signature seems to be, different.

"It can't be…" and quickly turns his gaze to where the attack came from,

／人◕ .◕人＼

Standing on top of a tree is another figure wearing a blue parka and a white large stripe running in front and black pants and heavy leather shoes. He jumps and silently right in front of Dante, who remained standing as he observed the newcomer. His profile is hidden with a pitch black mask that is ornately shaped like a canine's face. His flowing, long dark hair spilling from the mask can be seen, indicating that this one is not a native of this world. He carried the sheathed sword across his shoulders, an Ōkatana which has a black scabbard with a pink ribbon tied around it with the blade's handle itself was wrapped in pink silk cloth with an intricate design of black silk covering the sides of the handle make a straight line to the guard while sheathed. It had several runic engravings located around its white handle and on the endpoint of its sheath.

'Another weird one appears.' Dante thought, and said aloud,

"Alright, who are you supposed to be?"

"Call me, Dog." The masked man said, extending a gloved hand towards Dante, whom he felt a certain aura of familiarity. "A friend."

"Sorry, I'm not the hand shaking kind…especially to those with weird masks." Dante said, as he had problems in his earlier days with masked, bandaged men.

The masked man looked crestfallen, but tries to salvage the situation, but found the already awkward meeting beyond repair.

Sighing, Dog spoke, "I guess this is my cue to go." And goes to leave,

"Damn this guy, for ruining my introduction." Dog murmurs as he turns his back on Dante,

"Hey, I can still hear you."

"Yeah, yeah…" Dog waved dismissively.

"This guy is even worse than Sparda." Dog continues to speak loudly, as he walks off.

At the mention of the name Sparda, Dante quickly turns to ask the man of his relation to Sparda, only to find that the masked man gone.

"Great, another mystery guy." Dante mused, as Sylphid lands behind him, along with the passengers…XD

／人◕ .◕人＼

Henrietta lost consciousness for a while, but she woke up to a voice calling her name.

Louise was peering at her worriedly.

The rain had stopped. The grass nearby was wet and enveloped by a cool atmosphere.

It was as if the violent battle just now was a lie, Henrietta thought.

However, it wasn't a lie. Wales' cold corpse was laying beside her. The other cold corpses were scattered around her. It was the end of the ones who were given fake life by Ring of Andvari. By Louise's "Dispel Magic", the fake life disappeared and they returned to their original forms, though Henrietta did not know the reason. It was just that, she felt that the things that needed to be had returned to where they should be. And, that was enough for now.

It seemed that even the Golden Fleece can't do anything at the moment...

She wanted to think it was a dream. But, everything was a nightmare-like reality. And she herself, had tried to throw away everything and surrender herself to that nightmare.

Henrietta covered her face with her hands. Right now, she had no right to cling to Wales' corpse. Much less did she have the face to look at the Louise in front of her, who had loved her since they were young.

"Just what have I done?"

"Have you woken up?"

Louise asked Henrietta in a sad and cold voice. There was no sign of anger. There were some things that needed to be thought about, but it was the usual Louise.

Henrietta nodded.

"What should I say to apologize to you? What should I say in order to ask for forgiveness from the people hurt by me? Please tell me, Louise."

"More importantly, the Princess's powers are needed."

Louise pointed to the arriving, wounded guards.

"What horrible injuries."

"They have been trying to protect her royal highness. Please heal them with your 'water'."

Henrietta nodded and chanted a rune. By the power of the royal family's wand that stored the power of "water", the troops' wounds started to close up. Their eyes widened when the realized that the one healing their wounds was Henrietta.

"I do not have any words of apology. Are there any other people injured?"

There were several other surviving nobles of the hippogriff squad. Henrietta healed their wounds one at a time.

Dante couldn't help at the moment as the Golden Fleece is currently supporting a certain patient.

And then... without caring about whether one was an ally or enemy, the corpses were carried into the shade of a tree. Even if the corpses were going to be buried later, they could not just leave them as they were.

Louise and the others... Even Kirche, even Tabitha, did not condemn Henrietta. Henrietta had been seeing a nightmare. A sweet and tempting dream. If they had to hate someone, it would be the person who gave Wales a fake life and took advantage of Henrietta's heart like this. It cannot be said that Henrietta was sinless herself, but it was also truth that there was an existence that profited from that sin.

Henrietta was trying to move Wales, who is covered with the Golden Fleece at the end.

At that time...

Henrietta saw something she couldn't believe at all.

Perhaps, Henrietta's sorrowful love had reached somewhere.

Maybe, someone softly, to heal her sin, softly tipped the scales of life.

When Henrietta touched Wales' cheek, his eyelids weakly opened.

"...Henrietta? Is it you?"

It was a weak and fading voice, but it was Wales' voice without a doubt. Henrietta's shoulders shook. If miracles existed in Halkeginia, times like this were definitely that.

That is because no one can explain the reason why the light of life that should have disappeared was given a mere glow. It is possible that when Louise's "Dispel Magic" blew away the fake life, Wales' barely remaining breath of life lit the fire.

It was possible that the feelings Henrietta felt for Wales called upon a whim from the gods. No one knows why. Just that, Wales opened his eyes. That was the truth.

"Lord Wales..."

Henrietta called her lover's name. She understood. The Wales this time was the true Wales. Not a puppet that moved with fake life, but the true him.

Tears flowed from Henrietta's eyes.

"What a thing. Just how long have I waited for this moment..."

The group rushed over with surprised faces.

The eyes of the group widened when they saw that Wales had opened his eyes.

At that moment, Henrietta saw that red stains were spreading over Wales' white shirt. The wound caused by dozens of attacks done in his person that were closed by the fake life had opened.

Panicking, Henrietta chanted a spell to close up the wound.

However... Cruelly so, Henrietta's magic did not work on that wound. Without the wound closing up, the stain of blood only grew bigger.

"Lord Wales, don't... No, why..."

"It's no use... Henrietta. This wound will no longer close. Bodies that have died once will no longer revive. I have probably only come back a bit, just a bit with Dante's assistance. Perhaps, this is the whim of the water spirit."

"Lord Wales, no, no... Do you plan to leave me alone again?"

"Henrietta. I have one last wish."

"Don't say something like 'last'."

"I want to go to that Ragdorian Lake, where I met you for the first time. There is something I want you to promise there."

Tabitha pulled along her wind dragon. Dante and Kirche set Wales on its back. Following that, Henrietta, who was riding on the wind dragon, placed Wales' head on her knees and supported his body to keep it from falling.

Carrying the group, the wind dragon soared up.

Aiming for Ragdorian Lake, the wind dragon flew straight towards it.

At Ragdorian Lake, Wales leaned his body on Henrietta as they walked on the shore. The sky was beginning to whiten. Morning was close.

"How nostalgic."

"Yes."

"When we first met, I thought you looked like a fairy. See, you were bathing around here."

Wales pointed to one spot. He probably could already no longer see. That spot was completely different from the one in Henrietta's memories.

However, Henrietta nodded. Desperately restraining herself from crying,

"Oh, you're as skilled as ever."

"At that time, this was what I thought. If we just threw everything away like this. Anywhere is fine. The location doesn't matter. It's enough to just have a small house with a garden. Aah, a flower bed is necessary. A flower bed for you to grow flowers in."

It was like power drained from Wales' legs every step he took.

"Hey, I always wanted to ask you. At that time, why did you not say those kind words? Why did you not tell me that you love me? I have always waited for those words."

Wales smiled.

"I could not speak those words, knowing it would make you unhappy."

"What are you saying? It was my joy to be loved by you."

Wales fell silent. Henrietta felt the life disappearing from her beloved Wales' body little by little. For him to have lasted so long could be called a miracle.

However, she couldn't cry. In the time remaining, she wanted to exchange words with him as much as possible. Even so, her voice was trembling.

Mustering his energy, Wales stated.

"Swear, Henrietta."

"I will swear about anything. What should I swear about? Please tell me."

"To forget me. Swear that you will forget me and find another man to love. I want to hear those words. At this Ragdorian Lake. In front of the water spirit, I want to hear you pledge that."

"Do not say the impossible. I cannot swear such a thing. There is no way I could swear a lie."

Henrietta froze in her track. Her shoulders were trembling.

"Please, Henrietta. Otherwise, my soul will probably wander for eternity. Do you want me to be unhappy?"

Henrietta shook her head.

"No. I definitely don't want to."

"There is no time. There, there is no time anymore. I am already... That's why, please..."

"Then, then swear. Swear that you love me. By now, you should be able to swear that, right? If you swear to that, then I will swear as well."

"I will."

Henrietta, with a sad expression, spoke the words of oath.

"...I swear. To forget about Lord Wales. And also, to find someone else to love."

Wales said in a satisfied manner, "Thank you."

"Next, is your turn. Please."

"I will. Bring me to the waterside."

Henrietta brought Wales to the waterside. The morning sun poked through the spaces between the tree, and with a beauty unthinkable in this world, the Ragdorian Lake glittered.

Their legs got soaked in water.

Henrietta gripped Wales' shoulders.

"Now, say it. To love me. It is fine for just this moment. I will embrace this moment for eternity. No matter what you say, I will embrace it. Got it?"

However, Wales did not reply.

"Lord Wales?"

Henrietta shook his shoulders. But, Wales had already died.

She slowly recalled the days here, where she met Wales for the first time.

As if to take each memory one by one from a treasure box and check it.

The fun and glittering days will no longer come.

The words of pledge exchanged at this lake, no longer can be protected.

"What a mean person."

Looking straight ahead, Henrietta whispered.

"To the end, you never spoke those words of oath."

Slowly, Henrietta closed her eyes.

From her closed eyelids, a line of tears flowed down her cheek.

Dante, who was watching over the two from the shade, was holding Louise's shoulders. Louise was quietly looking at Henrietta, killing her voice while crying.

While holding her shoulders, Dante thought.

'Was I right?'

At that time, would letting Henrietta go, like she said... be happier for her? Even if it was fake life, even if it was fake love... If the actual person believed it was real, isn't that fine itself?

While holding Louise's shoulders, who was crying like a child, Dante had continued to constantly think about that. What was right, and what was wrong... Even after this, there will probably be other things to make him worry, Dante thought faintly.

Even before this tragedy, there were many times where he was pressed to make a decision very much like this one.

It was hard.

That is the reason he mostly lived alone, so that no one else will get caught in the whirlwind of suffering, death and misery that his heritage passed to him.

Dante embraced Louise firmly.

At least, when that time comes once more... for he, himself, will not waver, as always, Dante reflected.

Henrietta laid Wales' corpse in the water.

Then she waved her wand slightly, and chanted a rune.

The lake water moved, slowly carrying Wales' body into the water, where it sank.

The water was ever so deeply transparent, and the sinking corpse of Wales could be seen clearly.

Even after she was unable to see Wales anymore, Henrietta remained still.

Even when the lake surface reflected the light of the sun and started scattering the seven prismatic colors of light around the area... Henrietta continued to look for eternity.

"Let's go, princess...he's already gone."

／人◕ .◕人＼

Sometime later, Dante returns to the Ragdorian Lake.

"Even if I said that, I just can't help but...Hey, Water Spirit!"

The water surface began to ripple in prismatic colors...

／人◕ .◕人＼

In another place in Halkeginia, Dog wanders through town in Tristain, and ends up looking at the towers of the Tristain Academy of Magic.

"Nostalgic, Isn't it… Louise." Dog spoke to no one in particular,

Or so it seems.

The Ōkatana that he carried hummed musically as if in response.

／人◕ .◕人＼

Author's afterword:

Need I say this again?

This story is labelled under Adventure/**Humor**, FYI.

Why so serious to bash, Teme?

Besides, as I stated over and over in the author's notes in past chapters; **I'm not here for recognition.** I'm just here to have fun in either puzzling, angering, and making people smile or laugh at what I put together.

Otherwise if fame is what I seek then I'll get serious, and work full time in this writing biz.

Then again, I lack interest to pursue this at the moment.

I just post this mashup tale for the fun of it.

So smile, grin and bear it.

Or have my username closed by the admin, your choice.

As I await the judgement of readers. I end this season, like so…

Pulling the plug is the only thing I could do for now as I…Declare this season, Complete…

As always thanks for the patronage guys... Till next time. I guess...

XD


	24. Special Mission : Interviews and Teasers

Disclaimer: Neither the Familiar of Zero nor Devil May Cry belong to me.

Love it, Hate it.

For stuff that probably confused you...

I'm as confused as you are as well.

Due to this, the other day I had a really strange dream…

Wherein I ask the characters themselves...

and I tried to make sense of it all.

Try so see what happened…

Just so you know:

**_This is how I indicate that I'm talking to other characters._**

**_XD_**

Let's begin,

Secret Mission

Mission 24 : Interviews and Teasers

The Author goes to the FNC set to ask questions:

**ZZZZZZZZZ**

"...awaken..."

**ZZZZZZZZZ**

"..Awaken, dear author..."

**ZZZZZZZZZ**

"I said...WAKE UP, YOU LAZY BUM"

*CLANG*

**_OWIE!_**

A powerful kick to the solar plexus roused me from my rest.

**_WHAT THE..._**

I was sleeping just a moment ago, and a few hours earlier, I tried to contemplate on whether how to go on with my life, as I am having a really rough time as of late.

I was about to close and stop writing fanfics for a while...

Then this happened.

**_What the heck!_**

I was kind of shocked to see one of the characters I conceived, standing right in front of me.

As I thought, I'm dreaming.

Unfortunately, I can't wake just yet.

The Veiled Lady, in all of her sexy glory.

She seems to be saying something, but I was rendered deaf by the fact that I'm currently looking at her assets.

Dat ass, and nice pair of Lungs…

Fully covered she may be, but those curves are the real deal,

Dreamwise,

XD

*DROOOOL*

*WHACK!*

**_OW!_**

"I'M TALKING TO YOU."

But alas, this woman's personality is not what I envisioned her to be...

"As I was saying, I sense that you are planning to stop this story in this manner..."

**_Yeah so?_**

"Please don't..."

**_What the..._**

The Veiled lady began acting like a high school girl who was expecting her beloved to reject her confession, moments after she proclaimed her er...undying love to him.

**_OI! Don't act like that! It just looks so wrong!_**

As if that act was not enough, she glided close to the futon that I was sitting on, gets on her knees right in front of me and pulls on my shirt sleeve with eyes looking deep into mine, in a pleading fashion.

"Please..."

**_Oookayyy, this is just getting weird for a dream. I'm not even thinking about you as of late..._**

_*Sob*_

**_Hey, don't look at me with those teary eyes...I..._**

_*Grab*_

She suddenly latched to my arm with her hands...

"W-will you, go out with me?"

The statement froze me,

As it has been a while since a girl confessed to me...

**_T-this is all too sudden..._**

She suddenly grins...

**_Oh Sh-!_**

"Psyche,"

A whirlwind of light suddenly assaults my senses.

The next thing I know, I find myself standing in a middle of a courtyard,

It took a moment before I realize, as I saw the five towers...

**_I-I'm in friggin Halkeginia?_**

"Correct,"

The Veiled Lady's voice emanated from within my thoughts, so much that I can't help but comment,

**_I never realized that you talk with a British accent,_**

"Shut up...you're spoiling my line here."

Since this dream episode might not be ending soon enough, I just let this thing roll on.

*Sigh*

**_Alrighty then, what am I supposed to do here then?_**

"You're here to interview some of the cast. Any questions will do."

**_Well, I'm not stupid enough to ask, 'just any questions'..._**

"I suppose, and I also took the liberty of changing your attire to match this era."

Well, that's nice of her to do so... as I don't think any of them will be talking to me if I ended up here in my sleepwear...

As I wear only boxers then...

Taking a look at my attire at a nearby pool, I began the inspection. Don't want to look bad in front of them in the threads I'm wearing.

**_Hmm..._**

Black baggy pants.

Check.

Black steel toed boots,

Cool,

Black form fitting collared shirt, with red lining,

O-okay.

Bokken with 'Lake Touya' etched on the handle.

Huh?

I suppose I need it for protection...

White kimono trimmed with blue wave designs, with only one sleeve worn on the right shoulder, exposing my black shirt beneath...

Wait a minute,

Confused, I scratch my head with curly silver locks...

Then I realize...

What the heck is with this getup...?

**_Oi, Even if this is in the Middle Ages, this is not the Amanto invaded Edo, you stupid Time Witch! _**

"Ohohohohhohohoho!"

Annoying laughter filled my head, as I walked off to just see the end of this...

**_Ahhh, never mind, this is just a dream anyway..._**

...

Dante and Louise's Devil arm Demo Part 1:

As I wandered through the school halls, I gazed in wonder around the place as I took the tour,

The classrooms are a lot better than the classrooms I had when I was younger,

And this is in the timeline equivalent to the Earth's Middle Ages,

Though the restrooms are rather, similar to Roman baths, though I'm kind of wishing Lucius should have been here to have this place redesigned. That would be a nice thing, but at the moment, I could deal with that,

If you're wondering how I managed to freely wander around without being challenged by the school staff...

I have with me a parchment that appoints me, named Z-chan, as the visiting instructor/ambassador on magical defense from some faraway place, Kung-Lung.

**_Z-chan, huh?_**

*Sigh*

I was kind of wasting time, waiting for the dream to end, while hanging around the Austri Court...

When suddenly, I see a familiar pair in which I have written for some chapters already...

Dante and Louise,

"Hey, time to start with the task..."

**_Hai, Hai,(Yes,Yes)_**

"You don't have to say that twice. And why do you have to say that in Japanese?"

**_You gave me these clothes, might as well do anything to piss you off with._**

"You suck at pissing off."

**_Shut up._**

I ignore the rest of the babble made by the Veiled Lady, and proceed to approach to the two.

*Click*

Suddenly, I felt something cold and hard pressed against my temple, as a gruff voice asks,

"Who the heck are you supposed to be?"

**_I'm as much confused as you are..._**

"Wrong answer. You have three seconds to explain yourself..."

I began to formulate an answer, however…

"ONE."

*BANG*

I find myself sitting down, breathing heavily as I felt like I saw my entire life flash between my eyes,

**_"WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO TWO AND THREE?"_**

The silver haired man in red scratched his head with his black, gigantic pistol, and said,

"Real men don't need to know any other numbers other than ONE."

**_What kind of a lame-ass excuse is that? You trigger happy maniac!_**

*Sigh*

**_Oh never mind, I'm here to ask you guys a couple of questions..._**

Anyway, here we are...

The curtain opens we see the main characters standing in the middle of the Academy's Austri court…

Dante looks a bit annoyed as he waits for the *signal*, while Louise takes a spot of tea, before replacing it on the table.

"Oh it's that time already…" she comments,

**_Yeah it is…_**

"I suppose you have something to ask of me?"

**_Let's see, for one thing, I think we owe the readers an explanation on some of the stuff you just did, for some chapters now._**

"Hmm, I guess we have the time so without further ado…"

Dante takes out a small black disk...which suddenly transforms into a 20 feet tall vertical standing drum, which resembles a Taiko Drum. It has a Demonic visage embossed on its main body, with its face appearing to be roaring out loud.

**_It's been a while since we saw this one too… _**

The Devil Arm, Kulyog the war drum.

"As you can see this looks rather boring piece, but this one is actually a powerful Devil Arm. Based on an obscure Southeast Asian God of thunder, who was said to have the power to influence battles by giving the army an extra boost of power to the side he favours. The thing is, he was said to favour the group that can offer him the most blood from human sacrifices…"

**_Well, to be honest, the real mythology got so jumbled up that this is the remaining stuff salvaged from old scripts and from ancient stories I heard from my elders...sorry._**

"In other words, the author's saying, 'just roll with it, readers'…" Louise interjected,

**_Ahahahahaha, _**

Scratching my head uncomfortably, looking sheepishly at the readers.

"This guy really is one half-assed dude…" Dante comments,

**_Well, excuse me for being half-assed… I'm not paid to do this, For Your Information._**

"Anyway, let's get on with the demo…"

Dante then lightly bangs the drum with his hand...

BOOOM!

An explosion rocks the Court as the sound waves from the drum continued to emanate from the said weapon demolishing a boulder nearby...

"OI, BE QUIET OVER THERE! WE'RE STUDYING HERE!"

"Yeah, yeah. We'll be done in a moment."

"As you can see, this thing can wreak havoc in its usual form…" Dante said as he wills the Demonic drum to change form into a Boom Box.

"The Devil Arm can change its shape as long as the said shape can convey sound. The Devil Arm's power itself has the capability to bring inspiration, fear or despair to those who hear its beat depending on the user's intent."

**_As you might remember that impromptu rock concert during Mission 7…._**

Then a sound could be heard from the darkness. A stomp and clap.

*Boom Boom Clap

*Boom Boom Clap

Louder...

*CLICK*

**_Eh?_**

"Don't slip into flashback while I'm doing a demo here…" Dante declares as he pressed Ebony's barrel against a certain someone's temple…

**_Oops, Sorry…_**

**_Since we're done with this one, could we now start with the next one?_**

"You're speaking my language"

*Click*

I look to where the sound came, and get's a close range look with a familiar Rocket Launcher...

Kalina Ann...

**_Why am I here anyway?_**

*BOOOOOM*

**_Dante, YOU NIMROD!_**

Searing pain assaults my body, as my entire vision explodes into an inferno of hellish destruction.

I find myself slipping into the darkness...

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Cobalt's Skill and Arms Interview:

I wake up to see myself lying on one of the pillars of the some gothic building.

Looking around, it seemed like the place is lighted in torchlight.

Seeing no other person around, I walk around and find a passageway leading up...

**...**

I'm a horror fan, so I'm basically used to some scary stuff. But the atmosphere in the place is frightening even for me...

Though the place empty of anything living, I could feel that someone is staring at me...

How on earth did I end up here?

Just as I'm about to go up...

"Ah, I see that you are awake," a voice spoke behind me, startling my already on the edge nerves.

In front of me is a figure in a voluminous dark blue cloak.

Cobalt,

**_Oh, that's why..._**

Time to get a cracking

"I guess you're the interviewer?"

As always, this guy is sharp...

Hey, how did he know of that?

I was kind of wondering myself who this guy is...

Here goes...

**_Well, I was supposed to be asking you a couple of things which occurred in the course of the story..._**

"I don't mind, you can ask,"

**_How about your real identity for starters?_**

All of the sudden, an large array of ethereal swords appeared.

All aimed at my throat.

**_Uh, forget I asked that..._**

"My kind of guy."

With a small gesture, Cobalt dismissed the blades, allowing them to disappear into thin air.

**_At least allow me to ask about your weapons, Dainsleif?_**

"Ah, you mean this one?"

He holds up wields an ethereal Cleaver like sword. This one however looks like it's alive as it stared at me with intelligent eyes.

'Hello, there.'

And it talks.

**_That was new…_**

"This is a demonic sword based from the Nibelungen, a cursed Zweihander that contains a powerful curse used on its target to lose more than half of his power, but with the side-effect that also drives its possessor to ruin. It is a demonic sword handed down the family that killed the the ancient hero Ivaldi, and is originally one of the weapons hoarded by the dragon Ymir. While most demonic and holy swords carry both glory and destruction." Cobalt said,

"The sword enables me create numerous amount of ethereal swords at my command at any given time."

**_I see..._**

A much as I wanted to ask further...

"Well that's what I could share to you, next question ..."

He said in a chilling voice as his hooded head faced me in a manner that it seemed that I'm staring at an abyss...

Behind him are silhouettes of what appears to be a pair of gigantic war machines not of this world...

"I said, NEXT QUESTION." Cobalt's voice changed into a more gravelly sound, causing me to flinch a bit.

**_Uh, right. What happened to that chick featured in one chapter?_**

Suddenly Cobalt relaxed, and I had the feeling that he's got something up his cloak.

"Oh, that? Come and see."

The cloaked figure leads me into the lower levels of the building, to a large gothic designed double-door.

I looked at my mysterious companion as I stared at the door with apprehension.

Cobalt's hooded head tilted itself towards me in a manner that seems to convey query...

The longer we stand at the brink of the closed portal; I notice a number of things...

The putrid, acidic smell worse than one could smell in a slaughterhouse emanated from the room,

As if it wasn't enough, a series of jumbled sounds, cries that no creature on earth could make reached my ears...

**_Suddenly, I'm not interested to know firsthand anymore._**

"Nonsense, you're the chronicler of this story, right? You have to see this."

**_Yeah, as long as I don't get to experience this stuff personally, I don't mind._**

"You realize that you're the only living human outside of the organization to have made it this far. Don't make me add you to my list…"

I don't like the cheery voice conveyed by Cobalt.

As if laughing at me...

A snicker came from the cloaked figure as it watched me.

He IS laughing at me...

Seriously, who is this guy supposed to be?

"Since we were told that you're planning to stop chronicling this. I was planning to kind of 'inspire' you to continue when I was told that you'll be coming to do an interview makes sure that you finish this,"

As he stated so, he suddenly throws the doors open, revealing a grotesque scene...so inexplicably horrible that I can't even describe it for now.

**_Note to self, the scene will be described sometime in the next season, after I get my mind put together for a less jarring description..._**

Oh yeah, I'm inspired alright... to quit eating heavily before sleeping.

"As much as I would like to bully...er talk with you further, it would seem that you're losing your wits at the moment."

The cloaked figure sighed.

"A pity, we don't get to chat as to what happened exactly 6,000 years ago that it ended as such..."

My vision fades to black once more...

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Dog's Introduction and a Tease:

I opened my eyes and find myself in bed.

Unfortunately, it's not my bed.

The scene out the window indicates that it's still night time, as the soft light of the twin moons of Halkeginia shone down on the area.

After witnessing such a nightmarish scene, I tried to get that thing out of my head, and turns my head to rest my thoughts,

Only to meet with a sleeping dog-faced man, whose fangs are bared in a silent growl.

**_Eh?_**

**_Aaaaarrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhh!_**

My voice rang out, as I leaped out of bed, and scrambles back till my back slams into a wall.

"Is it morning already?" a human voice asked drowsily.

A musical chiming was heard, it came from a long slightly curved object covered in cloth.

"The interviewer is here? Is that so?"

More musical chiming.

The dog-faced figure rose up in bed, wearing a light sleeveless shirt and pants, comes up to me and extends a friendly hand...

"Sorry to scare you like that."

This is "Dog" a last minute character to this season, a man in a dog mask.

**_Nah, It was stupid of me...,_**I reply.

Wait a second...where am I now?

When Dog saw me looking around, he said,

"You're currently in the city of Tristain, a few miles from the Tristain Academy."

**_Sorry for disturbing you like this,_**

"I believe you just went through a lot, and that you're supposed to ask questions, regarding stuff?"

**_Well, that's what I'm here for..._**

*Sigh*

The two of us had an impromptu late night tea at a certain place where a lot of sexy girls have us serve some light wine.

If we were supposed to have tea, then why are we drinking alcoholic beverages?

As I remember when I read the sign earlier, this is called the Charming F's or something...

More like, the Middle Age's version of the 'Hooters',

"Sorry to bother you, Nee-san but could you get us two mugs of beer?"

Dog cheerily orders from a rather well endowed girl, who looks Japanese...

Not too sure of this, as I began the interview.

**_Well, what's the deal with you here?_**

"Even if you ask me about it, I'm not at liberty to say the details..."

**_I see..._**

"Well, all I can say is that I'm here on a mission..."

**_That's just too vague..._**

"If I say anything further...I would have to kill you..."

**...**

／人◕ . ◕人＼

We spent the rest of the time ogling at girls and drinking.

Later, as we wandered through the streets, singing a bunch of songs too lewd to be published...

As we turn to a certain street…

Dog suddenly stops,

I also stop as my body began to feel strange...

Not that strange, you dirty minded fools...

"Hey Z-chan, seems like we've been followed,"

**_It's not Z-chan, It's Z._**

Opening my eyes on alert, I begin to scan the surrounding street.

Not a soul in sight.

"And this was supposed to be a busy street at this hour."

But there's something afoot, as I could feel more than squad of killing intent hidden in the shadows...

Gripping hard on my wooden sword, I steel myself to a fight.

Wait. That line sounded so wrong.

Besides, how can I fight with a just a wooden sword?

"Brace yourself," Dog warns as he uncovers the long package, revealing an Okatana, and proceeds to take a sword draw stance.

**_Wait. I only have a wooden sword here. A WOODEN SWORD! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FIGHT ASSASSINS WITH BLADED THINGS, AND GOD KNOWS WHATEVER THEY MIGHT HAVE?_**

The silence was instantly broken as more than two dozens of cloaked figures bursts from the shadows, all coming from all directions.

"Let's Party!" Dog declares as he makes a makes a movement of sheathing the sword, as six cloaked assailants, wielding blades bore down upon him.

**_OI, why are you sheathing when you're supposed to draw?_**

"Why not? They're already dead." Dog replied indifferently.

As the sheathing ends with a click, the attacking six suddenly falls down, as their bodies broke into tiny pieces.

I gape in astonishment...

**_Um, did I miss something?_**

He's fast.

"Never mind that, concentrate on the battle."

**_But, I'm a peace loving person..._**

A dozen thrown daggers nearly pierce me, as I twist my body out of their trajectory.

**_OI, YOU BUNCH OF IDIOTS! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME! GET OVER HERE!_**

At that moment in my anger, my vision focused into a tiny pinpoint of light...

Battle cries and clashing of blades filled the wee hour.

Minutes later...

*SIGH*

**_Whew, that was kind of fun…_**

I rest myself, sitting with my back against someone else's house, as I looked at the pile of disappearing corpses.

I once again take a look at the bokken, which remained untarnished, despite the intensity of the attacks I did with it.

**_I never expected that a wooden sword like this could do this much damage..._**

I then turn towards Dog, only to see something else,

A black armored man, though it had its back turned away from me, I could feel the power it unconsciously project...

It turned to face me, regarding me with glowing white eyepieces.

*Sigh*

Then I realize that I'm quite tired, as my body loses strength. And my vision once again turns into dark.

**_Let me take a breather at the moment, then I'll ask more questions..._**

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Dante and Louise's Devil arm Demo Part 2:

*THWACK*

**_OWW!_**

A hard slap lands on my face, as I was once again roused from unconsciousness.

For some reason, the sharp sting of pain left me in a surprising speed.

I then find myself back to the Austri Court with Dante scowling over the lying corpse that was me...

And I'm now covered with a rich, white cloth, which feels like its producing large amounts of energy that appears to be healing my previously damaged body.

"Whoo...I thought were going to lose you at that time. If it wasn't for the Golden Fleece, you would have been a goner."

**_It was your fault I nearly died, you…_**

*Sigh*

**_Alright, so the Golden Fleece is?_**

"The cloth that is currently healing you," Louise said, who is at the moment enjoying an extra large helping of strawberry sundae. Sighing really cutely as she takes scoop after scoop.

Basically ignoring what happened to me earlier…

Allow me to fill in the details, this item is based on the Legendary Item told in the Story of Jason and the Argonauts, another Greek Myth.

It is a powerful artefact capable of healing any maladies and injuries. It was even said to be able to revive the dead. Thus, this item is one of the most wanted treasures in the mythological world.

Though I am kind of curious where Dante had procured this one.

"This one came from a Demonic Golden Ram…"

**_That was kind of boring…_**

"It's Devil that could rival a god in term of its power…"

**_So that means…_**

"More of a magical item than a Devil Arm, this Item contains a lot of that Devil's incomprehensible power, it was an item capable of near limitless abilities. But as of now, all I can use it is for additional dimensional storage and healing. Even I have no idea of the extent of its healing powers."

**_You mean to say that this is basically an untested item?_**

Dante just shrugs.

*Sigh*

This is getting nowhere, so I guess the rest will be revealed in the next instalment.

**_Never mind, the next item on the list is that vehicle of yours. The motorbike._**

"Oh, that would be Sleipnir" Dante smirked as he summons the said Devil Arm.

Allow me to describe,

Sleipnir's current form is a red Dual Seat Ducati Testastretta Evolucion 1098 with desmodromic, liquid cooled, 90 degree v-twin cylinder 4 valve cylinder, or so it looked...

It's Usual Specs:

-1099 cc to 1198.4cc engine

-6 geared

-Usual Speed when driven by Dante : 290 km/h - 180 mph, on any road surface. Which is why Louise holds on to Dante for dear life when riding with him,

-Max Speed: I have no idea... o.O

-Acceleration: 0-60 mph in 3 seconds.

This Devil Arm is named after the Asgardian eight-legged superfast Warhorse used by the Norse god Odin in his battles.

Go look it up.

**_Is there anything you can say about this vehicle?_**

I ask Dante,

"You haven't seen anything yet." he grins, as he dismissed the said weapon.

Okay…

**_How about that Devil Arm you used during the failed invasion of Albion?_**

As I turn around, A flight of blades near missed me.

**_OI! What the heck is that supposed to be!_**

"Well, You wanted to see that right so here it is," Dante smirked, as he wore that Devil Arm mentioned,

Allow me to explain a bit,

This is the Icarus, the Devil Arm of Flight.

Otherwise known in Tarbes as the Dragon's raiment, this was said to be one of Sparda's Devil Arm, a Devil Arm that allows its user to rule the skies.

Able to transform from a simple wings on the back to a full blown air vehicle that uses a variety of weapons.

Its basic form is the Winged Warrior form, a breast plate with gigantic wings attached at the back, all made of organic metal. This form grants the user of flight, and could use its 'feathers' as deadly projectiles

One of its forms is…

The Karnival; a form granted through Dante's memories of a certain aircraft he once flown, slower than the Wing form as this mainly serves as a passenger vehilcle. It has two mounted light weight, 50 .cal machine guns. With Infinite Ammo, granted that it is a Devil Arm.

Basically, a magical weapon posing as a mechanical one.

A hand clasps my shoulder,

*Click*

"Well, that's all for the little demo, guys. Till then, you might see this baby in action the next time you see this one," Dante waves at the readers, with the gun still pressed towards that certain someone,

"Bye now,"

Louise waves as well at the readers,

**_Umm, a little help here?_**

*BANG*

**_Oi, are you trying to kill me here?_**

"Tch, missed."

As such, my vision once more fades to black…

By the time I woke up, I was terribly late for work...

then realized,

_**Oh, right. Today is Sunday...**_

／人◕ . ◕人＼

Thus, ends my stated dream…

The Current FNC World in general:

"Just How Big is this Story?"

Even I have no idea…

Please review… and see you next season...published as a new story…


End file.
